Tony Dinozzo, Undercover Marine
by BakenandEggs
Summary: Tony had been undercover for six years when he met JJ at Roger's Cafe. He knew dating her was a bad idea, but it had been so long since he had actually been able to be himself with anyone. (Not Gibbs, Ziva or Tim friendly).
1. Roger's Cafe

Disclaimer: I own neither NCIS or Criminal Minds.

1-1-1

Tony knew that patterns were dangerous things to have. That was why he regularly changed the route he took to work. It was why he made sure that he chose which takeaway to visit randomly, rather than assigning each one a week day. But Roger's Café was his guilty pleasure.

He had learnt early on in his career that, when on a long term undercover assignment, it was important to have one place where you could be yourself – even if you only went once a month. And this assignment was definitely long term. It had been almost six years since he had last been Major Anthony Dinozzo of the United States Marine Corp. Six damn years since SecNav had gotten a bee in his bonnet about NCIS and had sent Tony in undercover.

So Roger's Café was his place of refuge. He was as careful as he could be. He always changed the day and the time of his visits; his coffee order was always mundane; and he was careful to use different routes to get there – heck, today he had even taken the bus.

All to sit by himself in a random café, with only slightly better than average coffee, and not have to play the clown. Of course, he didn't have to play the clown at his apartment either, but there was something freeing about being able to be himself in public. Sometimes he took a book; sometimes he did the crossword in the newspaper; sometimes he took his laptop and worked on his latest paper. It was nothing special, except it was. It was the only time he ever got to be Major Anthony Dinozzo, PHD, instead of _Very_ Special Agent Tony Dinozzo around people. Even if he never actually talked to any of the people.

Tony lifted his coffee cup up and took a sip. He was seated in the middle of the café today, not his favourite spot, but he knew that if he always sat at the back it would make him conspicuous. He hadn't brought anything with him this time, today he was just going to watch the people. He rarely came to Roger's Cafe this early in the morning, the café was an hour's drive from his apartment and that was if the traffic was kind to him, but his team had been at the office until late closing up their latest case and Gibbs' had given everyone the morning off. So here he was, at 7.30am, with a couple of hours to kill.

Because of the early hour on a Wednesday, most of the people in the café were hovering around the barista's bench obviously waiting for their takeaway coffee. There seemed to be several young lawyers, three leos, a small group of guys who were obviously tradesmen of some sort, and a few other people whose occupations weren't so easy to guess at first glance.

There was a very pretty blond ordering a coffee. Tony wrapped his hands around his coffee cup and discreetly looked her over. She was in her early thirties, educated, wearing a very professional looking suit, and looking very hot in it. Tony watched as she opened her bag to find her wallet and was surprised to spot the handle of a Glock 26. Huh, she was a fed. She seemed more educated than your average fed, prettier too.

Tony frowned when he realised she was still searching for her wallet with increasing desperation. What kind of marine would he be if he ignored a pretty woman in distress? He stood and made his way over to the counter.

He smiled at the pretty fed who had looked up from her bag and then at the waitress at the counter and pulled out his wallet.

"I'll pay for her coffee." It was nice to smile at someone without it being a smirk.

"No, I couldn't." The pretty fed replied, glancing back down to her bag.

Tony's smile grew. "I insist. It'll be my good deed for the day."

The fed stared at him for a moment, obviously searching his expression for something.

"Either pay or leave!" The waitress scowled. "You're holding up the line."

Tony opened up his wallet and dropped a ten dollar bill on the counter. "Keep the change."

"Thanks." The fed was obviously embarrassed. "I can't even remember where I must have left my purse."

Tony shrugged. "You're welcome." He offered her his hand. "I'm Tony.

"JJ." The blond responded shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you." Tony turned toward his table. "Would you like to join me while you wait? There seems to be a five minute delay."

JJ considered it, before shrugging. "Sure, thanks."

Tony led her to the table and pulled out a chair for her. Then he returned to his seat.

"I haven't seen you here before." JJ commented, after an awkward pause.

"I'm not a regular." Tony admitted. "This is the first time I've ever been here this early."

"Oh, do you work around here?"

"No, I work about forty five minutes' drive from here." Tony answered. "What about you?"

He knew this was a bad idea, making a connection at his place of refuge. Odds were he would have to find a new café, but this was the first time he had been out of character with anyone other than his handler or his goldfish in six years. It was worth the risk.

"Same." JJ answered with a smiled. "But this is my coffee stop on my way to work and it's not normally this busy."

"What do you do?" Tony asked. It was one of the awkward things about being able to read people so well. The dishonest feeling that came with asking a questions he already knew the answer to.

"I'm a Police and Media Liaison for the FBI." JJ replied.

"Wow." Tony was impressed. "That must be pretty stressful. My understanding is that the feds and police don't always get along so well. Let alone the feds and the media."

JJ laughed. "It's not always so bad. In many ways the rest of my team have much more stressful jobs. They actually have to catch the unsubs. What do you do?"

"I work for the Navy." Tony answered, inwardly wincing at the vagueness.

"At the Navy Yard?" JJ questioned.

Tony nodded. "At the moment, yes. It's a pretty busy place."

"I'm sure." JJ leaned back in her chair. "So what do you do when you're not working at the Naval Yard?

"I read, I run, I play piano." Tony shrugged. "My job's pretty full on, there isn't a whole lot of time when I'm not working."

JJ laughed. "Likewise. You play piano? Are you any good?"

Tony shrugged. "I'm alright."

"Nice." JJ smiled.

"Coffee for JJ." One of the waitresses called.

JJ turned towards the voice and then, with an apologetic glance at Tony, stood up and went to claim her coffee. When she came back, coffee in hand, she stopped at Tony's table.

"Sorry, I need to go. Thanks again for the coffee."

Tony grinned at her. "You're very welcome. Thanks for the conversation."

JJ smiled. "You're welcome." She put her coffee on Tony's table, opened her bag and pulled out a business card. "Here's my number in case you ever want to get coffee or something."

Tony accepted the card and smiled up at her, she was blushing. "Thanks. I just might do that."

JJ's smile was shyer now. "Bye."

"Goodbye. Have a good day."

Tony watched as she picked up her coffee and walked briskly out of the café, before looking down at the card in his hand. Her name was Jennifer Jareau and she worked in the Behavioural Analysis Unit.

He laughed softly. She worked with profilers? Well that was officially reason number one why he shouldn't call her.

Except that though he had many reasons why he definitely shouldn't call JJ, he was still very tempted. Which was crazy. He had quite literally written the textbook the Navy used to train marines for undercover work and there was a whole chapter in the book about not being an idiot in this sort of situation.

Tony sighed and began flicking the card through his fingers. He was lonely, it would be nice to have someone other than his handler to talk to. Tony placed the card on the table. He would let his handler decide. Colonel Lucten was a good man. He would be able to look at this situation impartially and make a decision based on the danger level. It wasn't as though Tony's life was in danger, but if anyone at NCIS made him the last six years of his life would be wasted.

Tony stood up, pocketing JJ's card and strode out the door. He needed to find a payphone to ring Colonel Lucten.

1-1-1

 _~Call her~_

Tony stared at the note in his hand in shock. It had been three days since he had rung Colonel Lucten about JJ and in that time he had managed to firmly convince himself that seeing JJ again was a terrible idea. But apparently Lucten didn't agree. What was he thinking? Tony shoved the note into his pocket, he would shred it later, and got into his car mentally planning the route he would take to work. It needed to be one with payphone on the way.

1-1-1

"Lucten."

Tony leant against the payphone. "This is Dinozzo, sir. I got your note."

Lucten chuckled. "And you're so horrified that I'm authorising you to go off book that you needed to complain?"

"This is a bad idea, sir." Tony retorted.

"I wondered how long it would take your training to kick in." Lucten replied. "But I think you should call the girl."

Tony let out a deep breath. "Why?"

"Because your sanity is important. You still have at least a few years left, Dinozzo, you know that. Take Agent Jareau out for dinner, have some fun."

"And if my cover gets blown?" Tony asked.

"It won't." Lucten reassured him. "No one suspects you. They're not even looking for a mole. Tell Agent Jareau that you work for NCIS and discourage her from visiting you there. Worst case scenario you have to tell your team that you pretended to be someone you're not to get the girl."

Tony was considered that. "Which they'll believe."

"Exactly. Go out, have some fun. We've done a background check on her. She's clean, no connection to NCIS."

Tony sighed. "I still feel like this is a bad idea, sir."

"Look, Tony, ultimately this is your call. But I need you to be able to last the distance in this op. If you're confident that you have a few more years in you without something like this then throw away her number, but if you're not…" Lucten trailed off.

Tony ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, sir. Understood."

"And let me know what you decide." Lucten ordered.

"Yes, sir." Tony nodded, half wishing that he was in Lucten's office and could salute him. He missed being a proper solider.

Tony closed his eyes in frustration. Could he be so homesick that he actually missed saluting people? Maybe he did need to ring JJ. He had told himself that he would trust Lucten's judgement on the matter.

"Sir?"

"Yeah?" Lucten responded.

"I'll ring her." Tony admitted.

Lucten let out a relieved sigh, making Tony wonder just how worried his handler was. "I'm glad. Now go to work, you're running late."

Tony came to attention immediately, even though the colonel couldn't see him. "Yes, sir."

As Tony got back into his car, he was tempted to hit his head against the steering wheel. What was he doing? Had he really just agreed to break his cover over a pretty fed?

Tony pulled his phone out and connected it to his hands free system. If he was going to call her, now was as good a time as any. He dialled her number and then pulled out into traffic.

"Jareau."

"JJ, this is Tony." Tony replied, keeping his eye on the car in front of him. "The guy from Roger's. I don't know if you remember me."

"Right, Tony, yes I remember you." JJ sounded rushed. "Listen, Tony, now isn't a great time, I'm about to board a plane."

"Oh, sorry." Tony answered. "I'll be quick. I was just, uh, ringing to ask if you'd like to have dinner with me this week."

"That sounds great." JJ sounded as though she was smiling. "I'm going to be out of town for a few days, shall I call you when I get back?"

"Yeah." Tony nodded, as he changed lanes. "Let me know when works for you. Good luck catching the unsub."

"Thanks. I'll ring you in a few days."

1-1-1

A few days had actually been five days, not that Tony was counting, and a week before their actual date. Tony had been on edge all week, and he had decided not to hide it. When McGee and Ziva asked, he fed them a line about a twenty three year old waitress. They ate it up, like they always did.

Tony wasn't sure what had put him on edge the most, the idea of breaking his cover or the fact that he was about to go on his first real date in over six years. It was probably both.

Tony had arrived at the restaurant, specifically chosen because it was in the same neighbourhood as Roger's, a few minutes early. He stood by his decision, it was the polite thing for a guy to do, but it still left him ten minutes to dream up worst case scenarios while sitting at their table alone. Not that he hadn't spent the entire day coming up with worst case scenarios. What was he doing again?

That question was clearly answered when JJ walked in, looking stunning in a red and white floral dress. He had forgotten just how pretty and poised she was. Maybe Lucten was right, maybe he did need this.

He stood up and waved her over.

"Sorry I'm late." JJ greeted him.

"You're not late." Tony disputed as he pulled out her chair. "I was early."

"How gentlemanly." JJ replied, sitting down with a smile.

Tony wasn't sure whether she was referring to his earliness or the fact that he had pulled out her chair.

"So, did you catch the guy?" Tony asked.

JJ looked away. "Yeah, eventually."

Tony winced. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

JJ shrugged. "It's fine. You didn't know. We were in Georgia, we caught the unsub, but not before he tortured one of the guys on our team."

"Is he alright?" Tony asked, leaning forward in concern.

"Yeah, physically at least." JJ looked tired. "The thing is that Reid, the guy Hankel tortured, is just a kid. He's only twenty five and he's so smart that he's hardly lived. He graduated high school when he was twelve. He's just so innocent and when he gets hurt it hits us all pretty hard. And having to watch him be tortured…"

"Yeah," Tony sighed. "I know the feeling. I worked with someone a bit like that once. He actually was a kid, just nineteen. It's horrible to be helpless."

"Yeah." JJ looked down at the table in front of her and then glanced up at Tony. "Sorry, I'm a pretty gloomy date tonight."

"It's fine." Tony reached out and touched her hand. "I don't mind. I'm here to get to know you."

JJ shrugged. "I'm not normally like this."

"Hopefully I'll have time to get to know that first hand." Tony grinned at her.

JJ smiled back. "You're sweet."

Now it was Tony's turn to shrug. "Would you like a drink?"

"That sounds wonderful." JJ turned to look for a waiter, even as Tony beckoned one over. "Thanks."

Tony waited as the waiter took her order and then ordered himself a glass of merlot.

"You're a wine drinker." JJ observed. "That's rare in a man."

"Rare in a good way?" Tony asked with a grin.

JJ picked up one of the menus the waiter had given them. "That would be telling."

Tony chuckled softly and picked up the second menu. "I have something to admit."

"Yeah?" JJ glanced up at him.

"I wasn't entirely honest about something the day we met."

"Okay." JJ put down her menu and stared at him seriously.

"It's not that I lied exactly," Tony tried to reassure her. "I just didn't give you the whole truth."

JJ leaned back in her seat. "Spit it out, Tony."

"You know how I said that I work for the Navy?" Tony asked. "Well, I do, but it's a bit more complicated than that. I'm an NCIS agent."

JJ stared at him for a moment. "You're a fed too?"

"Yeah." Tony shrugged. "Sorry I didn't admit it straight away. I don't tend to tell people."

"Even to another fed?" JJ asked, picking up her menu again.

Tony sighed in relief, he felt as though he was back on solid ground. "Especially then. The FBI agents I know don't exactly love me."

JJ glanced at him in a decidedly flirtatious manner. "You're obviously not hanging out with the right FBI agents."

Tony chuckled. "Obviously not."

It was a few minutes later, after they had ordered their meals, before JJ brought up the topic again.

"So you're a fed." She repeated. "So you were speaking from first-hand experience about the police and feds."

"From both sides actually." Tony admitted. "I spend a year as a cop before I began an agent."

JJ nodded. "That's pretty common right? One of the guys in my team used to be a cop too. How long ago was that?"

"I've been at NCIS for five years now." Tony answered. "And yeah, I've heard that it happens a bit, not so much at NCIS though."

"Oh, why?"

Tony shrugged. "Partly because we're a lot smaller than you guys. Let's just say that right now I work with Gibbs, who's a marine, Ziva who is a Mossad officer and McGee, who started as a computer tech. I've also worked with an ex-FBI agent and an ex-Secret Service agent."

"Wow." JJ looked surprised. "That's a lot of different backgrounds."

"What did your team do, before they were FBI?" Tony asked.

JJ frowned in thought. "Well, Morgan was a cop; Hotch was a lawyer; Reid got three PHDs; I don't know about Gideon and Prentiss. I think they've been FBI since they got out of college."

"And you?" Tony asked, leaning forward with a grin.

JJ shrugged. "After college I worked in press relations in the private sector for a few years and then joined the FBI. What about you. You said you were only a cop for one year before you joined NCIS what did you do before that?"

"I was a marine." Tony admitted.

"Wow." JJ looked impressed. "That's hot. Do you still have your uniform?"

Tony laughed. "I sure do."

"Wait," JJ frowned. "Did you say you say you worked with a Mossad officer? As in the Israeli Mossad?"

"Yeah, Ziva David." Tony explained. "She's only been with us for a few months, she's a liaison officer."

"I imagine that NCIS is a bit different than she's used to."

Tony chuckled dryly. "Just a bit. She's more of an assassin than an agent."

"What's it like working with her?"

Tony shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm still getting used to it."

"So did you join the marines straight out of high school?" JJ asked.

"Sort of. I went to Rhode Island Military Academy straight after high school." Tony admitted. It felt strange to tell someone the truth after so many years of lying – even if it was an edited version. "Then I went to Ohio State and got my degree, but the navy paid the tab. After that I went into active service."

"What was your major?"

"Psychology; my PHD was focussed in that area too."

JJ's eyes widened. "You have a PHD?"

"Yeah." Tony chuckled. "Do I not look the type?"

Now JJ was blushing. "Sorry. It's just that marine, cop and fed aren't exactly professions that suggest you might have a PHD."

"I know." Tony shrugged. "Though didn't you say that one of the agents you work with has three?"

JJ laughed. "Yes, Reid. But he's hardly your average fed."

"And I am?" Tony asked with a grin.

"Apparently not." JJ responded. "You're full of surprises, Agent Dinozzo. Or should I say Doctor Dinozzo."

"Agent Dinozzo is fine." Tony told her. "My colleagues don't actually know about the doctor part."

"Seriously?" JJ looked surprised again. "Why not?"

"I don't really tell people." Tony shrugged.

"You don't really tell people much, do you?" JJ pointed out.

"It's easier that way." Tony replied.

JJ looked unconvinced. "Well, thank you for telling me. Will you tell me what your PHD was on?"

"Primarily the psychological factors in undercover work. Both the psychological effects on the person undercover, and the factors needed for someone to be effective." Tony answered.

"Wow. When you say undercover, are you talking espionage or undercover law enforcement?" JJ asked.

"Either." Tony grinned. He felt better than he had in years. The freedom to have an honest, okay mostly honest, conversation was very refreshing. "And both. There are some definite difference between the two, but they are more similar than you might think."

"I didn't know that the marines were so interested in that sort of thing." JJ observed. "I thought they were more…"

"Gung ho?" Tony suggested, his grin growing. "Prone to rushing in guns blazing without thought or intel?"

"Yeah." JJ admitted.

"They can be." Tony agreed. "But the higher ups are trying change things. The problem with gung ho is that people die unnecessarily."

JJ's expression became serious.

"Sorry!" Tony apologised. "I didn't mean to kill the mood."

"It's fine." JJ smiled softly. "So what rank were you? When you resigned from the marines, I mean."

"Major."

"Major Tony Dinozzo." JJ grinned. "Major Doctor Agent Dinozzo, or should it be Agent Major Doctor, or Doctor Agent Major."

Tony laughed. "Let's just stick with Tony."


	2. Getting To Know You

**Set four months after 'Roger's Café' (four months after they met).**

Tony propped his feet up on his desk and leant back in his chair. The move was a deliberate act intended to get dirty looks from Ziva and McGee. And, as always, it worked within seconds. Tony grinned. He hadn't used to find joy in annoying people, but after six years of having to pretend that he did he had learnt to find satisfaction in it. It was particularly satisfying now that Gibbs was gone and had left him in charge; part of him wished he could finish up this undercover op and write up an insubordination report on Ziva and McGee. Unfortunately, SecNav was after bigger fish than a few junior agents with attitude problems.

He forced himself to jump when his cellphone rang, purely for Ziva and McGee's benefit, and quickly answered it.

"Dinozzo."

"Hi, Tony, it's JJ."

Tony returned to his previous position and made sure his grin was salacious. "Well, hello there."

"How's your week going?" JJ asked.

"Wonderfully, and yours?" Tony knew that both McGee and Ziva had stopped working and were now watching him curiously. He had to make sure that the phone call they heard was Agent Tony and that the one JJ heard was Major Tony. Everything had been much easier back when he had only had one fake life.

"It's been okay." JJ sounded tired. "We got back from New Orleans this morning."

"Dinner tonight?" Tony asked. They had been dating for four months now and had learnt to take advantage of every evening they were both free. More often than not it seemed as though Tony's free evenings were the ones JJ was out of town; and when JJ was in town, Tony always seemed to be working.

"That sounds amazing." JJ's smile was audible. "I have to warn you though, I'm pretty tired. Maybe we could just have takeout?"

"Your place or mine?" Tony asked.

"Mine." JJ decided. "That way I can kick you out and go to bed early without having to drive across town half a sleep."

"Wonderful! I'm looking forward to it." Tony hung up the phone and waited for Ziva to comment. She was always the first one to comment.

"New girlfriend, Tony?"

"Maybe." Tony drew the word out.

"Seriously?" McGee sounded both disgusted and envious. "You just broke up with Sophie two days ago."

"Sophia." Tony corrected him with a mocking smirk.

"Whatever." McGee scowled. "What's this one's name?"

"Angelica." Tony made sure to grin salaciously again. He had this act down to a tee. Angelica was the sixth fake girlfriend he had concocted to explain JJ's calls. Besides him lying about girlfriends wasn't new, he'd been doing that ever since he went undercover, though him having an actual girlfriend ringing him regularly was. Before JJ he had mostly just faked phone calls.

"Angelica." Ziva drawled the name. "She sounds…young."

Tony just widened his grin.

"You are a boar!" Ziva exclaimed in disgust.

Tony smirked at her – mission complete.

2-2-2

JJ lived even further from his house than Roger's Café was; it took him an average of an hour and twenty five minutes to get to her house from his apartment. Realistically if he went the fastest route it would probably only take him fifty minutes, but to be safe he tried to always take a different route. This time he took a route that he knew had a payphone since he was due to check in with Colonel Lucten.

Tony fished the quarters out of his pocket and fed one into the machine before dialling the Colonel's number.

"Lucten."

"Colonel, it is Dinozzo."

"Tony." Lucten sounded as though he was in good spirits. "How's it going?"

"Fine, sir." Tony answered. "Did you get my report?"

"I did. It was interesting read. Sheppard really asked you to go undercover?"

"Yes, sir."

"There is no paperwork regarding it at all." Lucten told him. "It's completely unsanctioned."

"Huh." Tony considered that for a moment. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go with it." Lucten ordered. "SecNav thinks there's more to this than there looks."

"Yes, sir." Tony replied. "It's just that…"

"Spit it out, Dinozzo."

"Sheppard wants me to seduce this woman, sir."

"I read that." Lucten pointed out. "Oh, you're worried about how this might affect your relationship with Agent Jareau."

Tony was worried about much more than just that. He had never been ordered to sleep with someone before. Just the idea of it made him uncomfortable. But he had done other things that made him uncomfortable for the marines in the past. What he hadn't done before was betray a girlfriend in the process.

"Yes, sir."

Lucten was silent for a few seconds. "Have you asked her what she thinks?"

"No, sir." Tony leant against the side of the phone booth. "I'm not sure how to without telling her everything."

Lucten sighed. "The same way you would tell her if you really were an NCIS Agent whose boss wanted them to seduce someone."

Tony didn't think that it was that easy at all. "Permission to speak freely, sir."

"Granted."

"There is a massive difference here, sir. If I was just as NCIS Agent and JJ didn't like the idea I could turn Sheppard down." Tony pointed out. "There is no way she's going to be okay with this."

Lucten sighed again. "Listen, Tony, the way I see it you have four options. One, you quit NCIS and go AWOL; two, you break up with Agent Jareau; three, you do it and just don't tell her about it; and four, you have her sign a non-discloser document and tell her everything."

There was only one option that Tony was willing to consider. "I didn't know option four was on the table."

"That's because you've been playing an idiot for too long." Lucten replied mercilessly. "We've done an extensive background check on her and she's clean. I approached SecNav about it a few weeks ago and he's signed off on it. I'll email you the document tonight if you like."

Tony couldn't remember ever feeling this elated. "Thank you, sir!"

"You're welcome, Dinozzo." Lucten responded. "You'll have the document in your inbox in fifteen minutes. Keep me updated."

"Yes, sir. Thanks again." Tony hung up the phone and immediately began re-plotting his route to JJ's. He needed to find an internet café with a printer on the way.

2-2-2

JJ stared at the different takeaway flyers on her table with her chin on her hand. Tony was running late, admittedly he was only ten minutes late, but this was a first. Which now that she thought about it, was weird. She had never dated anyone who was as time conscious as Tony was. They had been dating four months and, until today, Tony hadn't been late once. He even called her exactly when he promised he would. It made JJ feel bad, she was almost always running at least five minutes late.

Her doorbell buzzed and she stood up to answer it.

"Tony." JJ smiled at him and leant in for a kiss.

"Hi." Tony kissed her gently and then pulled back. "Sorry for being late, something came up. I'll explain later."

"It's fine." JJ laughed and stepped back to let him in the house. "It makes me feel better about all the times I've been late."

Tony shook his head jokingly at her. "Well it shouldn't. Two wrongs don't make a right."

JJ laughed again. "True. But two wrongdoers dating makes more sense than one wrongdoer and one goody good."

Tony raised his eyebrows in mock outrage. "Did you just call me a goody good?"

"Well, if the shoe fits…" JJ led him over to her kitchen table. "What kind of food are you in the mood for?"

"Something that delivers." Tony, replied scanning the takeout flyers. "How about Indian? We haven't had that yet."

"Sounds good." JJ moved to the wall to grab the phone. "What kind do you want?"

"We could halve a Tandoori Murgh?" Tony offered. "I'm not feeling too hungry."

Once JJ had place their order she moved back to the table and realised that Tony had put a document in front of him.

"What's that?"

Tony looked nervous. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

JJ sat down opposite him. "It sounds serious."

"It is." Tony ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I know we've only been dating for four months, and I know I probably shouldn't be asking you this yet, but where do you see this going?"

"Uh," JJ felt her heart rate increase in fear. "First. promise me that this isn't you breaking up with me."

Tony shook his head vehemently. "Definitely not."

"Okay." JJ took a deep breath to try and calm her heart rate. "You really scared me."

Tony gave her a half smile. "Well, that's a good sign. For me, I mean."

JJ rolled her eyes. "Yes, it is. Look, Tony, I wouldn't still be dating you if I didn't think we had a future. Now you."

Tony grinned at her. "I'm the same, which is why we're having this conversation."

"Exactly what conversation are we having?" JJ asked.

Tony laughed gently. "The 'please sign this non-discloser contract so I can tell you the truth about me' conversation."

JJ stared at him in confusion. "What?"

Tony leaned forward. "JJ, I really like you. In fact, I'm going to take a big jump here and admit that I'm pretty sure that I love you. But there are things that I can't tell you unless you sign this contract." He pushed the papers closer to her. "Things that you really deserve to know."

JJ couldn't stop her smile, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. "You love me?"

Tony blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah."

JJ reached across the table for his hand. "Me too, Tony."

She didn't think she had ever seen Tony look so happy before. "So tell me about this contract."

"There are some pretty big things that I haven't been able to tell you." Tony admitted. "Things I've even had to lie about. But if you sign the contract I can tell you everything."

JJ extracted her hand from Tony's and picked up the document. "Things from the past or things from the present?"

"Both."

JJ scanned through the document. "The consequences of breaking this include treason?"

Tony rubbed the back of his neck again. "Yeah."

"So these really are big things." JJ said.

"Yeah. You should read it through in its entirety." Tony said. "I can wait."

JJ stopped scanning through the document and started again at the beginning, this time more slowly. By the time she was done the food had arrived and Tony had set the table.

"Tony?" JJ asked, standing up to get a pen. "Will signing this, and knowing about you, put my family in danger?"

"No." Tony shook his head. "Not that I am aware of anyway."

"Okay." JJ sat down again and signed the document, making sure to initial each page as it instructed. "Now spill."

Tony took the paper from her, put it back in his satchel, and then sat down. "Don't you want to start eating first? The food will go cold."

JJ frowned at him. "Don't be a tease. I can multitask."

"Sorry." Tony laughed. "Believe me, I'm as excited about telling you as you are about hearing it."

"Excited might not be the best word." JJ told him as she opened the curry container. "I'd describe myself as more apprehensive."

"Okay." Tony sobered up slightly. "Again, sorry. I'll make this quick. I never resigned from the marines. I'm working undercover at NCIS because the last SecNav thought that there was a lot of corruption going on."

JJ took a moment process the information. "But you said that you had been at NCIS for five years, and a cop for a year before that."

Tony shrugged as he spooned half the food onto her plate. "It's a long term assignment."

"Long term?" JJ was horrified. "One year is long term. Six years is…"

"Difficult." Tony finished for her. "And my handler thinks I still have a few years left at least."

JJ stared at the food in front of her. "I think I'm in shock."

Tony laughed sadly. "Yeah, I think that's understandable."

"But everything else was true?" JJ asked.

"Kind of." Tony rubbed his neck again. "It's not that I lied to you about anything else, but the Tony you know is Major Tony, not Agent Tony."

"So you're different at work?" JJ asked before taking a bite.

"I'm different everywhere. Before I met you there were only two places where I wasn't _Very Special Agent Tony Dinozzo_ , my apartment and Roger's Café. I would go to Roger's every few weeks just to be me."

"Isn't it dangerous, you dating me?" JJ asked. "Surely if that was what you needed to do, it's unsafe to change it. Why did you take the risk?"

Tony shrugged. "Well, I really liked you. You're the first person besides my handler and the waitresses at Roger's that I'd spoken to as myself in six years. When I asked my handler, he told me to go for it." He chuckled. "I actually argued with him, but in the end I realised how worried he was about me. I was kind of going a bit crazy."

"I'm not surprised." JJ frowned. "Six years undercover? With more to come? What on earth are they thinking?"

"They think it's necessary." Tony answered. "And I'm the best. I'd rather it was me than anyone else."

"You sound like a good little soldier." JJ pointed out.

"A good little marine." Tony corrected with a grin. "And so I should be. I've been a marine for over ten years."

"So why are you telling me now?" JJ asked. "We've only known each other for four months. I could be the daughter of a corrupt N.C.I.S. agent for all you know."

Tony laughed. "I'm told that we did our most extensive background check on you."

"Oh." JJ wasn't sure she liked the idea of that. "Did you read it?"

"No." Tony shook his head. "And I won't. I'm not saying I don't want to know everything about you, but I want you to tell me in your time."

JJ smiled. "Okay, but you didn't answer my question. Why now?"

Tony sighed. "Because the Director of NCIS just asked me to seduce another woman in an unsanctioned op and my orders are to do it."

JJ stared at him. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Tony shook his head. "My handler told me that I had four options, refuse and go AWOL, break up with you, do it without telling you, or this."

"And this is?" JJ asked, her jaw clenched.

"Tell you everything and hope that you understand and don't kick me out for even suggesting it." Tony admitted.

JJ stood up and walked away from the table, her fists clenched. "How am I supposed to be okay with this? How are you okay with this?"

Tony sighed and put his head in his hands. "I'm not, but I'm a good little marine and I do as I'm told. Even when I hate it."

"Even when it's completely immoral?" JJ asked.

Tony was silent.

"And how exactly were you and your handler expecting me to respond to this?" JJ asked.

"I don't know about Colonel Lucten," Tony said, his expression resigned. "But this was pretty much was I was expecting. Followed by a very painful breakup."

This made JJ pause. "And you told me anyway."

Tony looked hurt. "Of course I did. I would never cheat on you."

"At least not without telling me about it first." JJ snapped. "Who is this woman you're supposed to…seduce. Are you allowed to tell me that?"

Tony rubbed his neck. "Her name is Jeanne Benoit. She's the daughter of an international weapons dealer."

"And your boss thinks that she will, what, lead you to her father?"

"No." Tony shook his head. "The Director of NCIS thinks that, my boss thinks that it will lead us to corrupt NCIS agents."

"And both of them are willing to pimp you out to get their result?" JJ asked.

Tony looked tired. "Yeah. Basically."

"Isn't this illegal?"

Tony shrugged.

"So you could walk away?" JJ asked hopefully. "And they couldn't prosecute you?"

"I can't do that." Tony replied.

"Can't or won't?" JJ asked.

Tony stood up, looking defeated. "I'm sorry."

"So am I." JJ dug her nails into her hand to try and prevent herself from crying.

"I should go." Tony bent down and picked up his satchel. The one containing the contract that had started this whole thing.

"Yeah." JJ turned away to hide her tears.

"I am so sorry, JJ." Tony sounded devastated. "I love you."

The words didn't seem to hold the same ability to make her heart sing as they had before.

"Just not enough to not do this." She accused.

Tony didn't reply.

JJ waited until she heard the front door closing behind him before allowing herself to burst into tears.

2-2-2

Tony felt like punching something. He didn't blame JJ for reacting the way she had, heck he had been similarly horrified when Sheppard had first told him her plan. He had even considered refusing, but then his training had kicked in. He had never turned down a mission before, never refused to follow an order before.

But then he'd never been asked to do anything like this before, never been asked to sleep with a woman as part of his cover.

He wasn't sure what horrified him the most, the fact that he was willing to prostitute himself for his mission or the fact that he was going to lose JJ over it.

2-2-2

"Lucten." The Colonel sounded as though he had just woken up.

Tony looked at his watch and winced, it was two in the morning. Had he really been driving around for that long?

"Sorry, it is so late, sir. It is Dinozzo."

Lucten sighed. "Let me guess, she didn't take it well."

Tony laughed bitterly. "Not at all, sir."

"Did you expect her too?"

"No, sir." Tony leaned his forehead against the wall of the phone booth. "Sir, I'm not comfortable with this mission."

"Is this you talking? Or Agent Jareau?" Lucten sounded more awake now.

"Me." Tony admitted.

Lucten was silent for a moment. "Listen, Dinozzo, you don't have to do this. Realistically the fact that she asked you gives us enough to arrest her."

"But?" Tony asked.

"But nothing." Lucten replied. "I'm sorry, son. I should have given you the option to refuse when you first told me about it."

Tony sighed in relief. "Thank you, sir. How will this affect my assignment?"

"It won't." Lucten answered. "We'll arrest her, appoint the next guy on SecNav's list to be Director and you'll see what dirt you can dig up on him."

"Yes, sir." Tony smiled. "And you're certain I'm not screwing things up."

"I'm not saying that we wouldn't get things out of you following Sheppard's order." Lucten admitted. "But your mission is to get Sheppard and any other corrupt NCIS Agents, not to take down international arms dealers."

Tony considered that. "Anything you need from me to help prosecute Sheppard?"

"A recording of her ordering you to seduce that woman wouldn't hurt." Lucten replied.

Tony grinned. "Yes, sir. I'm on it."

"Now go home." Lucten ordered. "And get some sleep."

"Yes, sir. Good night, sir."

"Night." Lucten hung up.

Tony replaced the phone and walked back to his car. Should he ring JJ now and risk waking her up? Or wait until morning?

He pulled out his cellphone and hit speed dial. He didn't want to risk her being uncontactable in the morning.

"Tony, it's the middle of the night." JJ sounded grumpy and half asleep.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You've said that already." JJ growled.

"I rang Colonel Lucten." Tony told her.

"Who?"

"My handler."

"Oh, your pimp."

Tony winced. "I'm not doing it, JJ."

JJ was silent for a moment. "And your colonel is alright with that?"

"Yeah." Tony smiled. "Thanks! I hadn't considered that I could refuse."

"That's because you're such a good little marine." JJ pointed out in a teasing voice. "Wait, did you do this for me? Or for you?"

"For both of us." Tony replied. "I didn't exactly like the idea either."

JJ was sounding much more awake. "So what does this mean? For your mission I mean?"

"It means that sometime in the next few weeks Sheppard will be arrested and I will have a new target." Tony explained. "And it means that someone will have to find another way to catch The Frog."

"Who?"

"The international arms dealer."

"Oh." JJ giggled. "Weird name."

"Yeah." Tony shrugged. "I think it's because he's French."

"Makes sense."

"So," Tony drew the word out. "Where does this leave us?"

"Other than awake at two in the morning and needing to be up in four hours?" JJ asked.

Tony winced. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." JJ reassured him. "I'm glad you rang. I think this leaves us where we were before you told me about your mission to seduce that woman. Having just declared our love for each other."

Tony smiled. "I liked that place."

"Yeah, me too." JJ agreed. "Can we have dinner tomorrow? There are things we need to talk about."

Tony didn't like the sound of that. "What kind of stuff?"

"Nothing bad." JJ laughed. "I have questions about this undercover thing, and we need to talk about how it affects us."

"Right." Tony grinned. "The kind of conversation we would have had tonight if we hadn't gotten side tracked."

"Side tracked?" JJ sounded like she was grinning. "That's what you're calling it?"

"It's as good a description as any." Tony defended.

"Good night, Tony."

Tony smiled. "Night, JJ, see you tomorrow."

2-2-2

It was surprisingly easy to get Sheppard to incriminate herself on tape. It certainly helped that she had been furious when Tony told her of his decision. Apparently she hadn't even considered that Tony might not be willing to accept the op.

Tony turned into JJ's street and parked in front of her house. He had never dated anyone who actually owned their own home before, apartments yes, but not an actual house with a yard. But it made sense, he couldn't imagine JJ living in an apartment in the middle of the city.

"Tony." JJ waved at him as he got out of his car. By the looks of it, she had been gardening.

"Hey." Tony strode towards her and then leaned in for a kiss. "You look relaxed."

JJ looked down at her dirt covered shorts and t-shirt and shrugged. "They gave us the afternoon off and my garden was really starting to get away from me."

Tony hadn't noticed. "Sounds like a good day."

JJ grinned, "I'm just about finished. You can go inside if you like, I'll only be a few minutes."

Tony shook his head. "Can I help?"

JJ looked sceptical. "You'll get dirt on your suit."

Tony laughed. "I can get it dry cleaned."

"Okay." JJ smiled at him. "See that pile of weeds? It needs to go in the compost heap round back."

"Got it. Is the compost easy to find?"

"Back right corner of the yard." JJ told him.

"Great." Tony took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, thankful that he wasn't wearing a white shirt. "I'm on it."

Half an hour later they were both cleaned up and Tony was watching JJ cook. It was a skill he had always admired, especially since he could hardly boil an egg.

"Anything I can do to help?" He asked.

JJ looked up from the vegetables she was cutting with a grin. "I'm not sure I want you anywhere near my kitchen. Not after hearing about some of your culinary disasters."

Tony laughed. "Tell you what, how about I chop those carrots. I'm pretty skilled at handling a knife."

JJ eyed with mock wariness and then surrendered the knife to him. "Try and copy the ones I'm already done."

"Okay." Tony looked at the carrot she had cut and tried to replicate it. "Oops."

JJ looked up from the garlic she had begun to prepare and laughed. "That looks nothing like the ones I did."

"It was my first try." Tony defended the pitiful looking carrot. "I'll get it."

"Hmmhm." JJ didn't sound convinced.

"So, you said you had questions." Tony prompted her. "About me being undercover."

"Yeah." JJ looked behind her at the kitchen table. "I actually have a list."

Tony grinned. "Any you know off by heart?"

"What did you do before they sent you undercover?" JJ asked rolling her eyes at him.

"I mostly worked at a desk." Tony admitted. "I did a lot of undercover work in my twenties, but when they promoted me to Captain I spent more time supervising other people who were going undercover."

"Is that when you did your PHD?"

"I started it then." Tony grinned as his carrot pieces began to look more like JJ's. "I finished in three years ago, it gave me something to do when I wasn't working."

"So why did you get this assignment?" JJ asked, she was doing something with shrimp now.

"Because they knew I could handle it." Tony shrugged. "And because they needed someone old enough to be respected by the higher ups at NCIS. I'm done with the carrots, now what?"

JJ came over to check. "Good job. Uh, can you cut the courgettes the same?"

"Sure." Tony smiled at her.

JJ went back to the shrimp. "So who do the people at N.C.I.S. think you are?"

"A chauvinistic womanizing clown." Tony picked up a courgette and cut the ends off. "My file says that I became a cop straight out of college. I went Ohio State on a football scholarship and majored in Phys. Ed."

"Phys. Ed?" JJ looked sceptical. "And they believe that?"

Tony laughed. "You haven't met Very Special Agent Tony Dinozzo. I think most of the time they're surprised I didn't drop out."

"You said they thought you were a womanizer?" JJ asked, she had begun to add ingredients to the saucepan now.

"Yeah. I hit on everyone I meet. They think I date a new woman pretty much every week." Tony admitted.

JJ scrunched up her face. "Seriously?"

"It means they underestimate me." Tony explained. "I don't actually date. You're actually the first woman I've dated since I went undercover."

"Are you seriously telling me that when I met you, you hadn't had a date in six years?"

"More like six and a half." Tony ignored JJ's stunned look. "I was too busy getting everything set up the six months before I joined the cops."

"Wow." JJ breathed. "So how do you get your colleagues to think you date a lot of women?"

Tony shrugged. "Mostly a lot of fake phone calls."

"And you're still doing that?" JJ asked.

"No," Tony finished cutting the last courgette. "Now I just use our phone calls and pretend that you're a different person every week."

"You're kidding." JJ's eyebrows rose. "So who do they think you're dating at the moment?"

"Angelica." Tony told her. "Where do you want these veges?"

"In the medium sized pan, third draw." JJ replied. "Angelica? Seriously?"

"Last week it was Sophia." Tony opened the drawer and tried to figure out which of the many pots was the medium sized one. "Before that I told them I was dating Pauline."

"Where do you come up with these names?" JJ asked incredulously.

"I have a baby book at my apartment." Tony told her, placing a pan on the bench. "Will this do?"

"Yeah, it's great." JJ poured some oil in the bottom of the pan and put it on the stove. "Exactly how many girlfriends have passed my phone calls off as?"

"Six." Tony pulled two wine glasses out of the cupboard. "You ready for a glass?"

"Oo, please." JJ turned away from the stove. "What happens if they hack your phone records?"

Tony crouched down to look at JJ's wine rack. "What are you in the mood for?"

"How about that Sauvignon Blanc you brought around last week?" JJ suggested. "It will go well with the shrimp."

"Okay." Tony pulled the bottle out. "And regarding my phone records, we need to figure something out about that."

JJ stopped stirring the saucepan and turned to face him. "How do you contact your handler?"

"Payphone." Tony poured them each a glass of wine.

"I don't see that working out for us." JJ commented.

"No." Tony placed JJ's glass on the bench next to her. "One option is for you to get a second phone and change sim cards a lot."

"As in a different sim card every time you change imaginary girlfriends?" JJ asked, turning back to the stove."

"Yeah."

"Won't that still look suspicious?" JJ asked. "It will look like a bunch of different burn phones."

Tony shrugged. "I'll ask Lucten what he thinks. We're not expecting anyone to start looking to my accounts any time soon."

"Okay, third question." JJ began.

"Third question?" Tony interrupted incredulously. "You've asked more questions than that!"

"Not from my list I haven't." JJ replied with a grin. "Now…"


	3. An Accidental Workplace Relationship

**Set two months after 'Getting To Know You' (six months after they met).**

"Dinozzo!"

Tony raised his head from his desk to look sleepily at Gibbs. "Boss?"

"What've you got?" Gibbs snapped at him.

"Um," Tony sat up and yawned. "What?"

"What. Have. You. Got?" Gibbs enunciated angrily.

Tony shook his head to wake himself up and wiggled his mouse to wake the computer up. "Not much, boss. There are no connections between the four victims besides them all being marines in their early twenties. I checked their credit card records and the only crossover is that the first and fourth victims shopped at the same liquor store. But even then, the fourth victim shopped there five days before the first one."

Gibbs snarled at him and turned his attention to Ziva. "David?"

Tony droned out Ziva's excuses for having found nothing and searched his drawers for some kind of food. Anything to wake him up. He'd been here all night looking through the victims' records and by the time he had finished he'd gotten less than an hour of sleep before Gibbs, McGee and Ziva had arrived.

Tony finally found a chocolate bar at the back of one of his drawers and opened it quickly. He really needed to restock his drawers. The last two weeks of late nights and all-nighters had all but wiped out his entire stash of snacks. Tony took a bite of the chocolate bar and chewed it quickly in case Gibbs decided to make him chuck it out. Gibbs had been particularly unreasonable that week.

It wasn't as though Tony didn't understand the man's frustration, he was frustrated too. Four men were dead and whoever had killed them was smart. They had no trace evidence, no witnesses, and no connections. They had been investigating the case for two weeks now and were still at square one. The difference between Gibbs and Tony was how they dealt with their frustration Gibbs got mad and began snarling at everyone, Tony pulled all-nighters.

Gibbs' phone rang and the older man broke off from abusing McGee to answer it. "Gibbs!"

Tony watched Gibbs for a moment before having to answer his own ringing cellphone. "Dinozzo."

"Tony, it's JJ."

"Hi," Tony glanced at McGee and Ziva and were relieved to see that their attention was focussed on Gibbs. "How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?" JJ sounded worried. "You sound tired."

"I'm alright." Tony assured her. "Just lacking in sleep. And missing you."

"I'm missing you too." JJ's smile was audible. "Which kind of relates to why I'm ringing."

"Oh?" Tony watched Gibbs' slam his phone down and storm up the stairs towards the Director's office.

"My team has been assigned a new case." JJ told him. "Your Director called our Director and asked for some assistance with the case you're currently working on."

"What?" Tony hadn't even considered that this might happen. NCIS and the FBI. didn't exactly get along. He stood and walked briskly to the stairwell, away from prying ears.

JJ's laughter was strained. "That's what I said."

"What are the chances of your team not noticing anything?" Tony asked quietly.

"Not good." JJ sighed. "Even if I was used to lying about things, which I'm not."

"And you can't tell them that we're dating." Tony pointed out. "No woman with any self-respect would date Special Agent Dinozzo."

JJ chuckled. "I have to admit, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing you like that. I can't really imagine you being a jerk."

Tony thought quickly. "How about this, we had a fling in college. You went to Pittsburgh and I went to Ohio State. They're only three hours' drive away from each other. You played soccer, right?"

"Yeah." JJ answered slowly.

"Did you ever play at Ohio?" Tony asked leaning against a wall. "Or go to a football game where Ohio State were playing?"

JJ paused. "Probably."

"Great." Tony grinned. "What kind of freshman were you? Would you have had a fling with a senior you met a football game?"

JJ groaned in obvious embarrassment. "Yeah."

"Excellent." Tony pushed himself off the walls and began to pace. "How did we end it?"

"Probably with you never calling me." JJ pointed out dryly.

"Yeah." Tony chuckled. "Sorry about that."

"So I'm mad at you?" JJ asked. "What if I can't pull it off?"

"You don't have to be mad at me." Tony explained. "You can pick any emotion you like. But it's really hard to pretend you've never met someone. This gives us an excuse to recognise each other. I'll do my best to distract your team."

"Okay." JJ took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm going to lie to my team."

Tony grimaced. "Sorry."

"It's fine. They would understand."

"JJ?" Tony asked gently.

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you see today, however much of a jerk I am, remember that it's not me." Tony said. "I hoped you'd never see me like this."

"I'll remember." JJ promised. "I love you, Tony."

"I love you too." Tony replied before hanging up the phone.

3-3-3

Gibbs was back when Tony returned to the bullpen and he was mad.

"Where were you?" He snapped.

"Uh," Tony held up his cellphone. "I had a phone call."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gibbs snarled. "Four marines are dead and you're off chatting up girls?"

"Sorry, boss." Tony rushed to sit behind his desk. "Any news, boss?"

"Tell him, McGee." Gibbs instructed, as he strode out of the bullpen.

"Yes, boss." McGee called after Gibbs quickly before turning to Tony. "Vance has decided that we need help. He's asked the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Team to help us with the case."

"What?" Tony exclaimed loudly. "The Feebies? Are you kidding me? We don't need their help!"

McGee and Ziva didn't say anything, but their expressions gave away their agreement.

"When are they coming?" Tony asked.

"Gibbs said they would be here at nine." Ziva answered.

Tony glanced at his watch. "So they're fifteen minutes away then. That gives me enough time to get some breakfast."

McGee and Ziva shot him dirty looks.

"I take it you don't want anything?" Tony asked them with a smirk.

"You could actually do some work for once." McGee grumbled. "All you do is sleep and eat."

"And talk to women." Ziva added.

Tony rolled his eyes, it was painful how unobservant the two of them were. Did they honestly not notice that for the last two weeks he had been the last to leave and the first to arrive? If he left at all. He was even wearing the same suit as yesterday.

"So nothing for you then." Tony concluded standing up and heading towards the elevator.

"Tony!" Ziva called him back. "I'll have a coffee."

"Me too." McGee added.

"Fine." Tony stood at the elevator and tried to decide whether he had time to buy some salt to put in their drinks.

3-3-3

By the time Tony got back with the coffees, JJ and her team had already arrived and were all standing in the middle of the bullpen looking at the big screen.

"Where the hell have you been?" Gibbs growled when he noticed Tony walking towards them.

"Coffee run, Boss." Tony held up the coffees in explanation. "I got one for you."

Gibbs accepted the coffee with a glare. "Agent Hotchner, this is Dinozzo the fourth member of my team."

Tony handed the other coffees off to McGee and turned to grin at the man Gibbs had spoken to. "Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo." He introduced himself.

"I'm Agent Hotchner." Hotchner replied with a nod. "These are Agents Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau and Doctor Reid."

Tony looked each of the FBI agents over with a grin, ensuring that his gaze rested longer on the female agents. "It's good to meet you all."

"Tony Dinozzo?" JJ was staring at him with very believable surprise. "You're a federal agent now?"

Tony looked at her for a few seconds, feigning confusion. "What did your boss say your name was again?"

"Agent Jennifer Jareau." JJ replied with a frown.

"Jennifer…" Tony mused. "Jennifer Jareau. Oh, Jenny…from Pittsburg right?"

JJ raised her eyebrows in obvious disdain. "Right."

"You two know each other, Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked coldly.

"Yes, boss. Sort of, we, uh, kind of dated a few times in college. " Tony answered with a salacious grin. "We were from different worlds, but still we clicked. Like the movie 'Love Story', except we didn't get married, and she didn't die, and we didn't actually go to the same college and…"

Tony winced as Gibbs slapped the back of his head.

"You lot can work in the conference room." Gibbs told Hotchner. "Agent David will show you the way."

"Thank you." Hotchner nodded to Gibbs. "If possible, we'd like to see the locations where the bodies were found."

Gibbs grunted in agreement. "McGee and Dinozzo can show you around."

"Thanks." Hotchner turned to his team. "Rossi, you and Prentiss go to the first two crime scenes. Morgan, take Reid to the more recent ones. JJ and I will get set up here."

"McGee, go with Agents Rossi and Prentiss." Gibbs ordered.

Tony rescued his coffee off McGee's desk and sauntered up to Morgan and Reid. "Guess that means that you're with me. Do you guys want to leave now?"

The two agents exchanged a look.

"Sure." Morgan eventually nodded. "Maybe on the way we can pick up some more of that coffee? It smells good."

"Great." Tony moved to his desk, took his gun from the drawer and grabbed his backpack. "Let's go."

The walk to the coffee place was awkward, neither FBI Agent seemed in the mood to chat which left Tony two options. He could either monologue it, or be silent – unfortunately for him, Agent Tony didn't do silence.

"FBI, huh?" He asked as they exited the building. "Why would you want to work there? It seems like a really stuck up place to work if you ask me. Unless you worked in a department that chased down aliens and stuff. Is there a department like that? I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Aliens?" Reid sounded scandalised.

Morgan put a hand on the other agent's arm as though to soothe him. "No." He answered Tony shortly.

"Are you sure?" Tony asked. "I guess if there was a department, you guys wouldn't really be in the know. Unless you were called in to profile the aliens. But then they probably think really differently to us humans so your profile wouldn't be very accurate. Have you ever considered that maybe some of the bad guys that get away from you might be aliens? Maybe you need an alien expert on your team."

Reid looked like he was going have a fit. "An alien expert?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded seriously, as they joined the line at the coffee cart. "You know, someone who has spent a lot of time with them. Someone who would be able to help you profile an alien bad guy. Actually you probably need a supernatural expert too, just in case your bad guy is actually a ghost with a grudge."

They ordered their coffee and then began walking back to the NCIS building.

"Shall we take my car?" Tony asked.

"If you want." Morgan replied cautiously. "We could always just take one of our SUVs."

Tony shook his head vehemently. "No, thank you! I have spent way too much time in one of those things already."

"When?" Reid asked.

"Well, first there was the time that Gibbs and Fornell were fighting over the body of a Navy Officer who died on Air Force one." Tony began. "Gibbs had me hide in the body bag so that Fornell would take the body bag with me in it and Gibb's could take the actual body."

"You what?" Morgan stared at Tony as though he was nuts.

Tony shrugged. "When the boss says jump, you jump. Anyway that was just the first time. Last year, I was framed for serial murder and got arrested by Fornell. It was very annoying."

"Who framed you?" Morgan asked.

"A crazy lab tech assistant." Tony shrugged. "They got him in the end."

They walked in silence until they got to the car. Tony figured that his alien conversation had probably given them plenty to think about – there was no need to overdo it.

"So," Morgan began from the front seat of the car after they had been driving for a few minutes. "You know JJ?"

"JJ?" Tony feigned confusion. "Oh, you mean Jenny?"

"Sure." Morgan shrugged.

"Yeah." Dinozzo grinned at him. "We dated a few times in college."

"You said you didn't go to the same college though." Reid put in from the back.

"No. I went to Ohio State, she went to Penn. We met at a soccer game. I can't remember who was playing, but we met at the hotdog stand and it was love at first sight."

"Right." Morgan sounded unconvinced. "How far away is this place anyway?"

Tony shrugged. "It's just another fifteen minutes. Let's talk movies. What's your favourite Robert de Niro movie?"

3-3-3

JJ rubbed her eyes for the fourth time in as many minutes and stood up to stretch her legs. She had been staring at the information in front of her for hours and she wasn't getting anywhere.

She looked across the bullpen and had to school her face to prevent a grin when she saw Tony pouring something into McGee's coffee. Tony was so different here, in fact if she hadn't known it was her Tony she would have passed him off as a lookalike – there was no way they could be the same guy. Except they were, which said a lot about Tony acting abilities. He was amazing.

But as amazing as he was, he seemed to be reaching the end of his rope. The day before Gibb's had thrown out Tony's lunch and for a second JJ had been sure he was going to lose it. She knew that her team had noticed the sudden coldness in Tony's expression, a coldness that was very unlike Tony's undercover persona. Tony had recovered by throwing a temper tantrum that any three year old would be proud of. And her team, filled with worldclass profilers, had fallen for it hook, line and sinker and had thrown Tony disgusted looks.

JJ couldn't help but grin as she watched an unsuspecting McGee take a sip of the coffee, before spitting it out.

"I still can't believe you dated him!" Emily said, as she came to stand next to her.

"Neither can I." JJ laughed.

"What were you thinking?"

"I was young." JJ defended. "And he was different – sweet."

"Sure." Emily raised her eyebrows in disbelief before turning her attention to the desk JJ had been sitting at. "Are you making any progress?"

"No," JJ sighed. "There's nothing."

"I think Hotch has a new plan." Emily mentioned. "He wants you to arrange a press conference."

JJ nodded. "Did he say when?"

"I think it's probably a matter of the sooner the better." Emily suggested. "But you should check with him."

"Is he in the conference room?" JJ asked, even as she began walking in that direction.

"Yeah." Emily told her.

"Jenny!" Tony called out, even as he jogged towards her.

"It's JJ." She frowned at him as she continued walking towards the conference

"Right." Tony fell into step beside her. "How's it going?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Tilt your body away from me slightly." Tony muttered to her. "And keep frowning."

JJ did as instructed. "Why?"

"Body language says a lot." Tony explained. "If your body is tilted away from me, it says that you don't want to talk to me. And make sure you don't mirror my movements."

JJ nodded slightly. "How are you?"

"Tired." Tony answered, still grinning annoyingly. "I'm starting to lose it. I don't know what I'll do if we don't wrap this up soon."

"Punch Gibbs probably." JJ said as they came to the conference room door. "Yesterday I thought you were going to lose it."

"Oh, you noticed that, huh?" Tony said with a strange laugh.

JJ stared at him for a moment in concern, before realising that the laugh was Tony's undercover laugh. It was amazing how he could have a conversation with her, and yet ensure that an observers would see and hear a different conversation.

"Yeah, your team didn't seem to notice."

Tony grinned. "Your team did."

"Yeah, but then you all but threw a temper tantrum and they just ignored you." JJ pointed out.

"Yeah, I needed to cover my screw up." Tony shrugged. "I really need some time out, I'm slipping."

"How about I come over to your place tonight?" JJ asked quietly.

Tony considered that before shaking his head. "It's too big of a risk. Thanks though."

"You're welcome." JJ was sure her smile probably looked a bit worried.

"Frown." Tony ordered her quickly.

JJ's obeying frown was real, she couldn't believe she had forgotten. How did Tony do this?

"See ya, Jenny." Tony smirked at her before sauntering off.

JJ sighed as she watched him go – they really needed to catch this guy.

3-3-3

It took them another three days to catch the unsub, and JJ couldn't help but sigh in relief as she and her team drove away from the Navy Yard – leaving the unsub in NCIS custody.

Once back at their office she spent a few hours finishing up her paperwork before heading home – Hotch had given them the rest of the day as well as the weekend off. The first thing she did when she got home was ring Tony.

"Dinozzo." Tony answered after three rings.

"How are you?" She asked worriedly.

"Tired." Tony sighed. "All I want to do is sleep."

"Why don't you?"

"I'm still at the office." Tony answered. "I haven't really had time to do my SFA paperwork in the last few weeks and Gibbs wants me caught up before I head home."

JJ frowned. "You're at the office?"

"I'm on a coffee run." Tony told her. "I really needed to stretch my legs."

"Do you want to come over tonight?" JJ asked. "I'll make pancakes in the morning.

"I can't." Tony sighed. "I doubt I'll end up leaving before ten, and I'm working tomorrow."

"That's ridiculous." JJ said in horror. "You've been working for two weeks straight, surely you get the weekend off."

Tony chuckled darkly. "I wish."

"You should take some time off." JJ told him. "Call in sick."

"I can't." Tony sounded exhausted. "Vance would nail my ass to the wall."

"You can't keep going, Tony." JJ told him seriously. "You should call the Colonel and tell him you need a break."

"I can do this, JJ." Tony told her. "I've been doing this for years."

"But not with me there, you haven't." JJ argued. "I know that it must have been a lot worse having me around. You haven't had a good night's sleep in two weeks, you're looking like crap, and you're beginning to lose focus."

"JJ." Tony sounded tired.

"No." JJ shook her head determinedly. "Either you ring the Colonel or I will. You're not thinking clearly."

Tony was silent for a while before sighing. "I feel like I should be angry at you for this. But I'm just too tired."

"So you'll call the colonel?" JJ pressed.

"Yeah." Tony acknowledged. "I'll let you know what he says."

"I love you, Tony."

"I love you too." Tony sighed.

When JJ hung up she wondered whether she had done the right thing. Sure Tony was tired, but was it really her job to force him to do this? She was sure he had needed it, but couldn't help but feel guilty for bullying him into it.

She laid her phone on the table and decided to change into something more comfortable – she was definitely in the mood for a pair of sweatpants.

JJ had just curled up in her favourite chair with a novel when Tony rang.

"Hey."

"Hey, JJ." Tony sounded happier than he had in days.

"Good news?" JJ asked.

"Yeah. Lucten is going to kill off one of my fake relatives so I get bereavement leave." Tony sighed. "I should get the call in a few hours. Is the invitation to come over still valid?"

"Of course it is!" JJ told him, rolling her eyes. "It always is – you know that."


	4. Penelope

**Set two months after 'An Accidental Workplace Relationship' (eight months after they met).**

Tony smirked in satisfaction as Gibbs convinced their suspect to confess to the murder of his ex-girlfriend.

Case closed! Finally he would get a day off. This was the fifth case they had closed in two weeks and Gibb's had promised them a long weekend if they managed to close the case before Friday.

Admittedly they were cutting it pretty close, it was eleven thirty on Thursday night.

"How's it going?" McGee asked as he entered the observation room.

"He's signing the confession." Tony told him.

"Yes!" McGee grinned.

"Special plans, McGeek?" Tony asked with smirk. "A date with a special orc perhaps? Or have you moved on to an ogre."

McGee glared at him. "No, my sister is coming to stay."

"Ah." Tony shot his co-worker an obviously fake sympathetic expression. "Too bad. I'm sure the ogre will be terribly disappointed."

McGee stalked out of the room.

Tony laughed before raising his eyebrows in surprise when his phone rang. Who would be ringing him this late? He check the caller I.D, why would JJ be calling him this late?

"Dinozzo." He answered the phone briskly for the benefit of the sound tech.

"Tony, something happened." JJ sounded close to tears.

"What's wrong?" Tony strode out of the observation room and towards the stairwell.

"It's Penelope. She's been shot."

"What?" Tony asked automatically. "How?"

He had never met the FBI computer tech, but JJ talked about her a lot.

"We don't know." JJ admitted.

"How is she?" Tony asked gently.

"In surgery." JJ told him with a gasp. "They don't know if she'll make it."

Tony grimaced in concern as JJ began to cry.

"Is there anything I can do?" Tony asked.

"I don't know." JJ sobbed. "I don't think so. I think we've got it covered. I just don't know what to do. It's Penelope!"

Tony ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He wanted to rush to the hospital to comfort JJ as she waited, but he couldn't. It would break his cover.

"I know, sweetheart."

"What if she dies?" JJ asked through her sobs. "I don't think I could handle it."

"Yes, you could." Tony told her. "But there's no point worrying about that right now."

JJ sniffed. "I know, but…"

"No, buts." Tony interrupted. "Take a deep breath."

The sound of JJ taking shaky breaths travelled through the phone.

"Good. Now where's your team?" He asked.

"They're all in the waiting room." JJ admitted. "I told them I needed some fresh air."

"Do you want me to come?" Tony offered.

"But your cover." JJ protested.

"Screw that. You're more important."

JJ was silent for a while. "You're such a good man, Tony."

"Is that a yes?" Tony didn't know which answer he was hoping for. If she wanted him, he would go – and blow his cover. If she didn't want him there, well that mean that he had to sit around, knowing that she was upset and not able to do anything about it.

"No." JJ denied. "But thank you."

"Let me know if you change your mind." Tony told her.

"I will." JJ sniffed again. "Would you mind staying at my house this weekend? I don't know when I'll get home, but knowing that you were there…" She trailed off.

"Sure." Tony agreed quickly. "Or you could come crash at my place. It's closer to the hospital."

"You only have a single bed." JJ pointed out.

Tony smiled. "Actually, I bought a queen last week. I thought it was about time."

"Wow." JJ sounded as though she was smiling through her tears. "Then, yes, please. I don't know when I'll be there though."

"Don't worry about it." Tony told her. "I have the next three days off – so whenever works for you."

"Okay. Thanks." JJ sighed. "I should probably get back."

"Let me know if I can do anything to help." Tony instructed. "I love you."

"Love you too."

4-4-4

Tony put his book down and stretched with a yawn before checking his phone again. It had been twenty four hours since JJ had rung him and, aside from a text to let him know that Penelope was expected to recover, he hadn't heard from her since.

He wasn't surprised. After all, he knew that if one of Gibb's team had been shot, they probably wouldn't be allowed to leave the office for weeks – or until the shooter was caught. But still, JJ had just gotten back from a case in Florida and she would be tired.

Tony sighed and stood up before moving to his kitchen area to make himself another hot drink. It was wonderful to have time off. To be able to read a book, drink something that wasn't coffee, sleep.

He needed to go to bed soon, JJ or no JJ. There was no point in staying up all night just in case.

Tony took his hot drink back to his chair and picked up his book again. He had barely read half a page when he heard a key in his lock.

Grinning, there was only one person, other than his super, who had a key to his apartment, Tony went to hug JJ as she entered.

"Hey." He murmured into her hair.

"Hey." JJ melted in his hug and they stood there for a while.

After a few minutes Tony led her over to the couch. "Would you like a drink?"

"Peppermint?" JJ asked, sinking into the chair and pushing off her shoes so she could tuck her feet under her.

"With lemon, or plain?" Tony asked as he moved to the kitchen area.

"Plain." JJ called after him.

When he returned, hot drink in hand, JJ was looking at the book he had been reading.

"You're reading about profiling?" She asked with a small smile.

Tony handed her the drink before sitting next to her. "I have been since watching your team in action. It's similar to what I do, but slightly different at the same time. I'm considering writing a paper about the similarities and differences between undercover skills and behaviour profiling. I think we could learn from each other."

"Cool." JJ sipped at her tea.

"How's Penelope?"

JJ shrugged. "They say she'll be fine. Apparently if it had been one centimetre closer to her heart she would be dead."

"And the case?" Tony asked in concern.

JJ frowned. "We've got nothing. It seems to be a random robbery."

"That sucks." Tony winced.

"Yeah." JJ sighed and rested her head against his shoulder.

"You ready for some sleep?" Tony asked gently.

"Yeah." JJ nodded. "I'm due back at the office in seven hours."

"Definitely time for sleep then." Tony said, taking her barely touched drink from her hands and standing up. "Come on, I put my electric blanket on earlier. The bed should be toasty warm."

JJ smiled up at him. "You're wonderful."

"I know." Tony winked at her before pulling her up. "I bought you some pyjamas, they're on the bed. I'll tidy up our cups and be through in a minute."

JJ grabbed his hand to stop him moving away. "Thank you."

Tony smiled gently. "You're welcome."

"I love you so much, Tony Dinozzo." JJ kissed him gently. "I can't imagine my life without you."

"Ditto." Tony kissed her back before pushing her gently towards to bedroom. "Get some sleep, I'll be there in a minute."

"Bossy." JJ grinned at him, even as she moved towards the bedroom.

Tony laughed. "What else would you expect from a Marine major? It's my job to be bossy."

"Good thing you're so good at it then." JJ laughed.

4-4-4

JJ stared at the tarp covered body in the middle of their office and wished that Tony was there. She had shot someone. Killed someone.

It wasn't that she regretted it. She had meant every word that she had said to Penelope – she had done it to protect her family. But that didn't mean that she wasn't feeling overwhelmed.

"I need your gun." Hotch interrupted her thoughts.

"I know." JJ placed the gun on the desk beside her. It was procedure.

"You should get it back tomorrow." Hotch told her. "There's no question that you did the right thing."

"I know." JJ nodded.

"Are you alright?" Hotch sounded concerned.

JJ dragged her gaze away from Battle's body to meet Hotch's gaze. "I'm fine. I think I just need some time to process it."

Hotch stared at her for a moment, obviously trying to profile her. "Do you need to take some time off?"

JJ considered it, before shaking her head. "No, but I might take an early lunch. I could use some fresh air."

"Alright, take a few hours if you need." Hotch told her.

"Thanks, Hotch." JJ smiled at him before pushing herself off the desk she had been sitting on.

She was about to enter the elevator when she heard Rossi's voice behind her.

"JJ."

"Yeah?" JJ moved to stand between the doors of the elevator so it wouldn't close on her.

"Are you okay?" Rossi looked just as concerned at Hotch had.

"I'm fine." She smiled at him. "I just need some fresh air."

Rossi looked unconvinced. "Alright, but if you need to talk…"

"Thanks." JJ nodded gratefully before allowing the elevator doors to close.

She knew who she wanted to talk to – Tony. He always knew exactly what to say and it wasn't as though he was unfamiliar with the subject. She just hoped he would have time.

JJ barely managed to wait until she was out of the building before dialling Tony's number.

"Very Special Agent Tony Dinozzo speaking." Tony answered, he was obviously around his colleagues.

"It's JJ." She told him as she began walking in the direction of the Navy Yard. "I shot him. The guy who shot Penelope. I shot him in the head."

"Well," Tony paused, "Uh, just a sec." There was a pause. "Hey, boss. Can I take a break? Important phone call."

JJ couldn't hear what Gibb's replied, but it was obviously an affirmative answer because the next thing she heard was Tony thanking his boss.

"How are you feeling?" Tony asked her a few seconds later.

"I don't know." JJ admitted. "Overwhelmed. I've never killed anyone before."

"Completely understandable." Tony told her and she could hear the elevator ping. "Are you at the office?"

"No, I told Hotch I need some fresh air."

"How long do you have?" Tony asked.

"He said I could take a few hours." JJ sighed.

"Meet you halfway?" Tony offered.

"I was hoping you'd say that." JJ admitted. "I've already started walking in your direction."

Tony laughed softly. "So how did your team catch the guy?"

It took most of the walk to tell Tony the story. About how they had realised that it was a targeted hit and not a random robbery. About the new things they had learnt about Penelope and how that had led them to Jason Clark Battle, but not in time to prevent him entering the FBI building. How the serial killer had held a gun to the head of an FBI agent and how Hotch and Rossi had distracted him long enough to JJ to get in position and take the shot.

"You must be a pretty decent shot." Tony commented. "I'm impressed."

JJ laughed lightly, amazed at how much better she felt already. "I'm a damn good shot, thank you very much."

"I stand corrected." Tony's grin was audible. "I can see you now."

JJ looked up, quickly searching for Tony's face. When she found it she hung up the phone and ran towards him.

"Hey." Tony hugged her tightly, kissing her head.

"Hey." JJ thought she could stay like this all afternoon. She always felt so safe and comfortable in Tony's arms.

"How are you feeling?" Tony repeated the question he had asked at the beginning of their conversation.

"Much better." JJ told him. "Thank you."

"Anytime, sweetheart." Tony told her sincerely. "Any particular café you want to go to for lunch?"

JJ shook her head against Tony's chest. "No."

It took JJ a few minutes to feel willing to leave Tony's embrace, and even then she was glad when he reached for her hand.

"So, lunch?" Tony asked.

"Uh," JJ looked around. "How about that place? Turkish sounds good."

"Alright." Tony smiled at her.

Once they had given their orders to the waitress, JJ ran a hand through her hair. "Thanks for this."

"Anytime." Tony told her seriously. "I know how rough it can be."

"When was your first time?" JJ asked.

"I was just a kid." Tony told her. "It was my first year in active service and I was undercover in Colombia. My assignment was to work my way up the hierarchy of one of the local drug gangs."

"What happened?" JJ asked.

Tony shrugged. "You don't move up in that kind of environment by baking the boss some cookies. Two weeks after I had managed to join one of the gangs they caught a member of one of their competitors sneaking around and decided it would be a good test for me."

"They made you shoot him?"

Tony laughed without humour. "No, they gave me a knife and told me to have at it. I couldn't refuse, they would have killed me too. Besides, I needed to get their attention."

"What did you do?" JJ asked in concern.

"Let's just say that I impressed them." Tony said quietly. "The worst part was that I was still undercover. I didn't get extracted for another three months so I didn't really get the chance to grieve. By the time I was extracted, I had done a lot worse."

"Oh." JJ stared at Tony. "That sounds awful. How did you cope?"

Tony shrugged. "I dug myself into the character. My job was to be that guy and I was doing it to protect my country. Then I came home, spent a couple of months in therapy working everything through, and then got sent to Iraq."

JJ sighed. "How did you deal with it?"

Tony shrugged. "As I said, it was my job and I knew I was protecting people. Just like your job was to shoot Battle today. It was your job and you were protecting people."

"Right." JJ nodded slowly. "Is it bad that I wish I hadn't had to do it?"

"No." Tony smiled. "That's what makes you different from him or any of the other people that your team catch. I still hate it every time I have to kill someone. I hate it when I'm put in that position and I hate doing it."

JJ nodded again and then smiled in thanks as the waitress brought them their lunch. "That makes sense."

"I'm sorry you had to do it though." Tony told her seriously.

4-4-4

It was just on one when JJ returned to the office and she headed for Hotch's office.

"JJ." Morgan called from his desk, stopping her.

"Hey." JJ walked over to his desk. "How's Penelope?"

Morgan grinned. "Frustrated to be back in hospital, but glad it's over."

"Yeah." JJ understood that. "Me too."

"You okay?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah." JJ answered, much more truthfully than she had Hotch and Rossi earlier that day. "I'm fine."

"Good shot, by the way."

"Thanks." JJ grinned. "I'm heading up to see Hotch, let him know I'm back."

"I'm glad you're okay." Morgan told her seriously.

"Me too." JJ smiled.

Hotch was in his office and smiled when he saw JJ. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." JJ told him seriously. "I just needed time to process."

"You did the right thing." Hotch told her.

"I know." JJ smiled at him. "It was just a bit of a shock."

Hotch studied her. "Alright. I left some forms on your desk that you'll need to fill out."

"Thanks." JJ moved to leave the room.

"JJ." Hotch stopped her.

"Yes?"

"If you ever need to talk about it, I'm available." Hotch told her sincerely.

"Thanks, Hotch." JJ nodded at him, before heading back to her office.


	5. Moving Day

**Set three months after 'Penelope' (eleven months after they met).**

"This is ridiculous." JJ snapped from her place on the couch.

Tony looked up from tying his shoes in confusion. "What is?"

"We barely see each other." JJ told him. "This is the first time I've seen in you in two weeks and now you have to go."

Tony sighed tiredly. "I know."

"I'm presenting a new case to the team tomorrow." JJ told him. "We'll probably be in Colorado by lunchtime."

Tony rubbed his face in frustration. "You just got back. Gibbs promised us the next few days off."

"We got back three days ago." JJ argued. "You've just been too busy to come over."

"We had a case." Tony explained, not for the first time. "Gibbs wouldn't let us leave until nine, and by then it was too late to come over for dinner."

"I know." JJ scowled. "It doesn't make this easier. This is only the third time I've seen you in over a month. Either I'm away, or you're working late. I miss you."

Tony moved until he was sitting next to her, looping an arm around her waist. "I know, I miss you too. We're not usually this busy, it's just been a bad month."

JJ snuggled closer to him. "Yeah, I know. Aren't you getting tired?"

Tony laughed without humour. "I am way past tired."

"Are you any closer to getting dirt on Vance?"

"No," Tony groaned. "But that's not unexpected. It took me four years to find what I needed to take down Sheppard. Vance has only had the job for four months."

"Right." JJ sighed.

"I really need to go." Tony told her regretfully. "Gibbs will be unbearable if I'm late to the crime scene."

"Fine." JJ stretched up to kiss him. "Keep in touch."

"I will." Tony initiated a second kiss before pushing himself off the couch. "I love you."

"Love you too." JJ smiled at him. "I'll see you when I get back."

JJ watched Tony let himself out of the house before leaning back on the couch and sighing.

5-5-5

The crime scene address was only fifteen minutes' drive from JJ's house, which meant that Tony was the first to arrive. There were three police cruisers parked on the street outside the brick house which was apparently their crime scene.

Tony parked behind one of the police cruisers and then introduced himself to junior officer who was guarding the door.

Once inside the house, Tony followed the sound of voices and soon found himself a small lounge with a crying woman in her early thirties and three police officers.

"You NCIS?" One of the officers asked.

"Yeah," Tony showed them his badge. "Special Agent Dinozzo."

"Great." The officer looked relieved. "I'm Officer John Krall. Should we just leave you too it?"

Tony looked the officer over in surprise. Normally the local police officers put up more of a fight. "How about you tell me what you know?"

"Right." Officer Krall nodded quickly. "We received a call at approximately seven thirty this evening. Caller was Mrs. Margaret Peel, that's her over there." He gestured towards the crying woman. "When we arrived we found the victim lying on the kitchen floor. Mrs. Peel identified him as her brother, Corporal Steve Connor."

Tony watched the only female officer in the room try to comfort Mrs. Peel. "Has Mrs. Peel said anything?"

"Not really." Officer Krall shrugged. "Mostly just keeps denying it."

Tony looked around the room again. "Could you please lead me to the kitchen, Officer?"

"Sure." Krall stepped into the hallway. "Right this way."

"Tony!" McGee's voice rang down the hallway. "How'd you get here so quickly?"

Tony looked down the hall and nodded his greeting at McGee and Ziva, before turning to Officer Krall. "They're NCIS too."

"Right." Officer Krall nodded. "Should we leave you to it then?"

"We'll need to take your statements." Tony shook his head. "And it would be great if you could stick around until my boss gets here. He'll probably want to talk to you."

"Sure." Officer Krall agreed.

"What do we have, Tony?" Ziva asked him sharply.

"Dead corporal in the kitchen." Tony answered. "I haven't seen him yet. Officer Krall here has been bringing me up to speed."

"Where's the kitchen?" McGee asked quickly, pulling out their fingerprint scanner.

"Through there." Officer Krall answered. "Victim's sister identified him at Corporal Steve Connor."

"Victim's sister?" McGee asked.

"She's the one who called us." Officer Krall explained. "It's her house."

"She's in the lounge." Tony told them. "She's pretty torn up."

Ziva rolled her eyes. "Of course she is, Tony. Her brother is dead."

Tony ignored her as he followed McGee into the kitchen. The room was trashed, broken glass and china scattered throughout it. The victim was lying, sprawled, in a pool of blood – a long knife sticking out of his chest.

McGee crouched down and scanned the victim's prints. "She was right. Corporal Steven Connor. He's a marine."

"Ziva, you're on photographs." Tony said after a moment. "McGee, bag and tag. I'm going to talk to Mrs. Peel."

"Who put you in charge?" McGee grumbled.

"Shouldn't we wait for Gibbs?" Ziva asked. "Surely he will wish to see the scene before we touch anything."

"I'm here now." Gibb's voice growled from behind Tony. "Tony, photographs. Ziva, bag and tag. Tim you're with me."

"Yes, boss." Tony acknowledged, ignoring McGee and Ziva's smug looks. He hated it when Gibbs under minded him like that. There was no reason for Gibbs to change the work assignments, except to screw with Tony. It was no wonder McGee and Ziva didn't respect him.

5-5-5

Once the scene was properly catalogued and Mrs. Peel had given a statement, the case had basically solved itself. Apparently Mr. Peel wasn't a fan of his wife's brother and had, in a drunken rage, stabbed his brother-in-law with a bread knife.

Mr. Peel had fled the scene, but he had booked himself a hotel room using his credit card and so they had him in custody by midnight. All that was left was the paperwork.

Which was great, except that the stupidly easy case had ruined his evening with JJ and now it was too late to go and see her. JJ would be asleep now and then, come morning, she would be off to work and then to Colorado.

It was two in the morning by the time Tony had filled out all his paperwork. He deposited his report on Gibbs' desk and then left for home. He was pulling out of the Navy Yard when he had an idea and decided to head towards JJ's instead. It was way too late for him to go in now, but he could get a few hours sleep in his car and then join her for her morning run. It wouldn't be much, but it would definitely be better than nothing.

5-5-5

JJ's morning routine was pretty simple. Wake up at five thirty, go for a run, shower, have breakfast, and then grab coffee on the way to into work.

This morning was no different, though she had to admit disappointment that Tony hadn't been able to stay the night. Her morning routine was always more fun when Tony was there.

She pulled on her exercise clothes before letting herself out of the house and locking the door behind her.

"Good morning."

JJ spun around in fright, her hand grasping for the gun that she wasn't wearing. "Tony? What are you…? Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry." Tony grinned at her. "Alright if I tag along this morning?"

"What are you doing here?" JJ asked in confusion.

Tony shrugged. "We didn't get to spend much time together last night. I wanted to spend some more time with you before you leave for Colorado."

"So you drove here at five thirty in the morning?" JJ asked in disbelief. "You must have left your place at four thirty."

Tony looked embarrassed. "Actually, I, uh, slept in my car."

"What?" JJ stared at him. "Why?"

"It was past two by the time I left the office." Tony explained. "So I figured that I could just get a few hours' sleep and then join you this morning."

"That's crazy." JJ told him, though she knew she was smiling. "Why didn't you just come in?"

"It was three in the morning." Tony pointed out.

"Still." JJ shook her head in disbelief. Sometimes Tony was too good to be true.

"So running?" Tony prompted her. "Times a ticking."

"Right." JJ nodded and then began her normal stretches. "So how did the case go last night?"

5-5-5

"Whatcha looking at, McNosey?" Tony taunted with a grin.

"What?" McGee jolted upright, his eyes flicking away from Tony nervously. "Nothing."

"You are acting strangely, Tony." Ziva put in. "You have now checked your phone six times in thirteen minutes."

Tony wiggled his eyebrows at her. "That's awfully specific, Ziva? Should I be scared?"

"You should be focussing, Dinozzo." Gibbs snarled from behind him and Tony barely managed to duck away from the head slap.

Tony stuck out his tongue at Ziva and McGee before turning his attention back to the cold case in front of him. He was expecting a call from JJ, any minute now. Well, any day now, but he was starting to get worried. He hadn't heard from her in four days and that wasn't normal. Normally when she was away she rang him each day.

He was relatively sure that she was alright, there had been nothing on the news about hurt FBI agents, but it didn't stop him from worrying.

It was thirty minutes later that his phone finally started buzzing and, after a quick glance towards Gibbs, Tony answered it after two rings.

"Dinozzo."

"Hey." JJ sounded tired.

Tony stood up. "Boss, I've got to take this. I'll grab coffee while I'm out."

Taking Gibbs' grunt as permission, Tony strode towards the elevator. "How are you?"

"Exhausted." JJ sighed. "Sorry I haven't called. I was sharing a hotel room with Emily and couldn't find a moment alone."

"It's alright." Tony leant against the wall of the elevator and waited for it to move. "Are you back now?"

"Yeah." JJ answered. "We'll spend the rest of the day at the office finishing off the paperwork and then we've got the weekend off."

"Nice." Once out of the building, Tony began the familiar trek to the coffee cart.

"Is your team on a case?" JJ asked. "Do you want to come over for dinner?"

Tony grinned. "I'd love to. We're working cold cases at the moment so I should be off at five."

"So I'll see you around six?"

"I look forward to it." Tony affirmed.

"Great." JJ said. "I need to go, Hotch will be wondering where I am. But I'll see you tonight."

"Love you." Tony told her.

"Right back at you."

5-5-5

JJ wasn't sure why she was so nervous. It wasn't as though she hadn't had Tony over to her house a lot of times before, after all, they'd been dating for over ten months now.

She straightened the tablecloth and then set the bottle of wine she'd just opened in the middle of the table. Tony was always hassling her about giving the wine more time to breathe.

JJ had only just got the food in the oven when her doorbell rang.

"Come in." She called towards the door.

The door opened and then she could hear Tony's footsteps making their way towards her.

"Well, hello there." Tony greeted her softly.

JJ turned around and hugged him tightly. "I missed you."

"I miss you too." Tony kissed her gently. "What are you making?"

"Lasagne." JJ leaned against him. She always felt so safe when Tony was holding her. "I just put it in, so it'll be ready in about an hour."

"An hour, huh?" Tony kissed her again. "I wonder what we could do to pass the time."

JJ laughed and led him over to the couch. "How about you tell me what's happened since I saw you last."

Tony sat on the couch before pulling her into his lap. "I missed you."

JJ leant against him and sighed happily. "Anything else happen?"

"Vance is making my life miserable." Tony groaned. "He's started making snarky remarks about how outdated my method of investigating is. He thinks all agents should look like McGee, MIT graduates with IT skills."

"Seriously?" JJ twisted her head so she could see Tony's expression.

"Yeah." Tony sighed. "The problem is that McGee is listening to him and is becoming more and more of an ass. Every time he makes a snarky comment about MIT, or about my Phys. Ed. Degree, I just want to hit him and tell him about my doctorate."

JJ frowned. "Is it getting harder?"

"Sort of." Tony's arms tightened around her. "I've been undercover for seven years, and at NCIS at five. I've been working with McGee for three. That's a long time to be working with someone who thinks you're an idiot."

"Any chance you'll be done soon? They can't expect you to spend the rest of your life undercover."

"Colonel Lucten says that if I'm not done it two years they'll pull me out anyway." Tony answered softly.

"Two years?" JJ twisted around to look at him. "That's ridiculous. By then you will have been undercover for nine years."

"I know." Tony's voice was bleak. "On the bright side I will be able to write a paper on the effects of long term undercover work."

JJ rested back against him. "What will you do when you're done?"

"I don't know." Tony shrugged. "Whatever they tell me to do, I guess. I'll still be a marine."

JJ considered that. "So they could just order you to go undercover again?"

"They could." Tony's voice was hard. "But I'd resign first. I've already told them that this is my last long term undercover assignment."

JJ sighed in relief. "That's good. It's nice to know that there's an end in sight."

"Two years is a long time." Tony said slowly. "A really long time when you're having to lie to your team."

It took JJ a moment to realise that he was talking about her. She slid off his lap and turned around so that she was facing him.

"Is that what you think? That's I'm going to get sick of it and break up with you?"

Tony's eyes were sad. "I don't know. I wouldn't blame you if you did."

JJ frowned. "It's not going to happen, Tony."

"You don't know that." Tony argued. "We barely see each other. Five days ago you told me it was ridiculous."

"It's not ideal." JJ allowed. "We both work a lot, but I have an idea."

Tony looked surprised. "You do?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about it when I was away." JJ told him. "I think you should move in with me."

Tony stared at her. "What?"

"It makes sense." JJ defended. "We would see a lot more of each other."

"I work lots of weird hours." Tony pointed out. "I'd wake you up a lot."

"I'm okay with that."

"You're serious." Tony stated.

"Very." JJ nodded with smile. "Tony, will you move in with me?"

Tony stared at her for a while before smiling. "Yes."

JJ leant forward to kiss him.

After a few minutes, Tony pulled back. "I'll need to sort some things out though."

"I know." JJ nodded. "I think you should keep your apartment. That way if anyone looks for you there you can say you were sleeping over at a girl's place."

Tony grinned. "You've really thought about this."

"Yeah." JJ kissed him again.

5-5-5

"You know, when I suggested that you keep your apartment I thought that would mean less boxes." JJ complained as she deposited a box labelled 'Psychology Books' on the lounge floor.

Tony laughed. "There aren't that many."

"No, but most of them are filled with books." JJ pointed out as they headed out to get the next load. "Books are heavy!"

"You can take a lighter load this time." Tony promised. "The 'Wall Hangings' box is lighter."

JJ took the aforementioned box, enjoying how light it was. "Now that's more like it. What sort of wall hangings do you have?"

"Some photos, some actual art, plus a few of my medals." Tony told her.

"Will it be safe to put up the photos?" JJ asked as she added the box to the growing collection in the lounge. "What if someone from my team decides to visit?"

"Your team never visits."

"I know." JJ followed Tony back outside.

"But you make a good point." Tony sighed. "We can put them back into storage."

"We could put them up in our bedroom?" JJ suggested.

"Okay and we'll store my medals." Tony agreed as he handed her a large, but light, box labelled 'Uniforms'.

"Sounds good." JJ said, suddenly remembering something. "My team knows I'm dating someone. I found out yesterday that they thought I was dating this detective we worked with in New Orleans last year."

"Really?" Tony laughed. "What was he like?"

"Very charming." JJ added the box to the pile and then sat on the couch. "Break time."

"I'll get the wine." Tony agreed. "So what was the name of the detective you're apparently dating?"

"I can't remember." JJ laughed. "Will something, I think."

"How did you find out?" Tony asked as he returned with two glasses of red wine.

"Emily asked me about it. Apparently she was tired of waiting for information." JJ sipped the wine and hummed in enjoyment. "This is great."

"I know." Tony leaned back in his chair. "I've been saving it for a special occasion."

JJ smiled happily. "Well, this is definitely a special occasion."

"Exactly." Tony held out his glass. "Cheers."

JJ clinked her glass gently against his. "Cheers."

After a while Tony spoke again. "So what did you tell Emily?"

"I told her I was dating someone." JJ admitted. "But that I was really enjoying having an aspect to my life that no one at work knew about."

Tony nodded approvingly. "Good answer."

"She seemed to buy it." JJ agreed. "We basically live in each other's pockets most of the time. It's not unreasonable to need some space."

"Have you decided what you're going to tell your parents?" Tony asked.

"No." JJ sighed. "Mum knows I'm dating someone, but I don't know how to tell her we've moved in together without her wanting to meet you."

Tony was silent for a minute. "I can talk to Colonel Lucten? Maybe we can get them to sign a non-discloser form too."

JJ shook her head. "No, I don't want to put that on them."

Tony leaned forward seriously. "I've got another two years to go, JJ. You don't want to be lying to your parents for that long."

"I know." JJ frowned. "I'll think about it, okay?"

"Okay." Tony agreed.


	6. New Orders

**Set four months after 'Moving Day' (one year and two months after they met).**

Tony wasn't sure what to expect as he pushed open the door to the dental surgery, he almost hadn't come. He wasn't in the habit of taking orders from homeless men who smelt like vodka, but the homeless man who had accosted him the day before had known the emergency code word and so here Tony was.

Tony declared himself at the reception and then sat the waiting area. He had no idea why he was here, or even who wanted him here. This was the first time in seven years he'd been ordered to a face to face meeting and he was concerned that he hadn't heard anything about it from Colonel Lucten.

"Anthony Dinozzo?" A young man dressed in a dental nurses' uniform read from a clipboard.

Tony stood up and looked the young man in disapproval. He was obviously a marine, just the way he held himself gave him away. What were they thinking putting a kid this unexperienced undercover?

He followed the undercover marine down the hall and into a room on the right.

The room seemed to be a second waiting area and there two men waiting for him, neither whom looked anything like dentists, though one of them was definitely the Secretary of Defence – Alexander Moore.

Tony pulled himself to attention and saluted the man. "Sir."

"At ease, Major." Secretary Moore ordered and Tony fell into the at ease position. "I don't believe you know General Pike."

"No, sir." Tony agreed.

"It's good to meet you, Major." General Pike nodded seriously. "I've heard good things about you."

"Thank you, sir." Tony couldn't believe how good it felt to be able to act like a marine. It had been far too long. The minute he was finished with this undercover assignment he was going to do his best to ensure that no one else was ever forced to spend such an extended time undercover.

"Have a seat, Major." Secretary Moore ordered, as he sat down.

Tony sat stiffly in the chair opposite the two men.

"You did a good job with Director Sheppard, Dinozzo." Moore commented after a minute. "I know Secretary Davenport is very pleased."

Tony nodded, Colonel Lucten had told him something similar.

"He's put you in for a promotion." General Pike commented. "You'll be a Lieutenant Colonel by the end of the week."

Tony smiled proudly. "Thank you, sir."

"You've earned it." Secretary Moore told him. "But that's not why you're here."

Tony waited patiently.

"You've been told that your current objective is to uncover any corruption at NCIS?" General Pike asked.

"Yes, sir." Tony replied. "Focussing specifically on the director."

"Yes." General Pike grimaced. "Leon Vance.

"Do you see much of Philip Davenport?" Secretary Moore asked.

"The Secretary of the Navy?" Tony checked in surprise. "Not much, sir."

"You have new orders, Dinozzo." Moore told him. "We want you to keep an eye on Secretary Davenport."

Tony tried to digest this. "Yes, sir. Is my handler aware of the change, sir?"

"No." Moore denied. "As well as reporting to Colonel Lucten, you will be reporting to General Pike. Consider them two different missions, Major."

"Will I be contacting you in the same manner, sir?" Tony asked the general.

"Yes." General Pike handed Tony a business card with a number scrawled on the back. "That's the number."

Tony glanced at the number before slipping it into his pocket. "Yes, sir."

"Permission to ask a question, sir." Tony requested.

"Granted."

"Will this extend my time undercover, sir?" Tony didn't know what he'd do if the answer was yes.

"No, Major." Moore denied. "You've been undercover far too long already. I'd pull you out now, but the President wants to see what you can find on Davenport."

"The President?" Tony parroted in surprise.

"Yes, Major." Moore sounded amused as he pulled two files out of his briefcase. "Read these before you leave. They're highly classified, but will give you some idea of what you're looking for."

"Yes, sir." Tony nodded.

"We'll leave you to it then, Major." Moore said, as he and Pike stood.

Tony stood quickly and pulled himself to attention. "Yes, sir."

"Leave those files here when you've finished." General Pike ordered as they left.

Tony waited for the door to shut behind him before collapsing back into his chair. Were they serious? They wanted him to investigate the Secretary of the Navy? When was he supposed to do that? He barely saw the guy.

Tony groaned and picked up the first file, entitled 'Operation Frankenstein.'

6-6-6

Half an hour later Tony was still having trouble processing what he had learnt. He clenched his fists and forced himself not to punch the elevator wall. He took a deep breath and then another one. He had less than a minute before he needed to be Special Agent Dinozzo and he needed to calm down. Gibbs would never believe he'd gotten this worked up at a dentist.

Operation Frankenstein had basically been Vance and a CIA operative torturing marines in order to create assassins. Tony supposed he should be glad that he hadn't qualified. What the hell was the Navy thinking?

He could definitely see why the President wanted dirt on Davenport.

Tony took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened before striding into the bullpen. He almost turned around again when he saw JJ and her team talking to Gibbs. This couldn't be happening again. The last time JJ's team had worked with his team he'd barely made it through the week. Having JJ there, at work, had thrown all his routines off. Just seeing JJ was enough to make him want to drop his cover, let alone working with her.

"You're late, Dinozzo." Gibbs snapped when he saw Tony approaching.

"Dentist appointment, boss." Tony reminded him. "I told you yesterday."

Gibbs glared at him. "We have a case. Four dead sailors were found in Midland Park."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "And the feebies?"

"Are assisting." Gibbs snarled. "McGee, take Dinozzo on a coffee run and get him up to date."

"Yes, boss." McGee jumped in fright.

"You feebies still take your coffee the same?" Tony asked Morgan.

Morgan looked surprised. "Yeah."

"Great, ten coffees coming up." Tony grinned. "Come on, McGee, coffee's awaiting."

McGee stalked past him with a glare and Tony fell into step beside him.

"Spill, McGee." Tony ordered once they were out of the building. "What are the feebies doing here?"

McGee grimaced. "They're here to assist. A jogger found the four dead privates in the park early this morning. Ducky thinks that the first one died four days ago."

"And the others?"

"He thinks one is being killed each day. The last one was killed last night." McGee explained. "Ducky doesn't have an exact time of death yet."

"So the clock's ticking." Dinozzo commented. "And so we're stuck with the FBI."

McGee shrugged. "Apparently the director was impressed by how well we worked together last time."

Tony smirked. "I can't say I'm upset to be spending more time with Jenny. The things that girl could do…"

"Tony!" McGee interrupted with a horrified expression. "She's an FBI agent."

"And I'm a NCIS agent." Tony agreed. "Nothing wrong with a bit of inter-agency cooperation."

"She doesn't even like you." McGee argued as they joined the line at the coffee cart.

"You don't know that." Tony argued.

"Yes, I do! She thinks you're a chauvinistic pig."

"Just because you don't understand my charm, doesn't mean that she doesn't." Tony replied loftily.

"Want to bet?" McGee asked suddenly.

Tony grinned. "What do you propose?"

"If you can get her number before the end of this case I'll buy lunch for a week." McGee suggested.

"And if I don't?"

"You buy lunch for two weeks." McGee smirked.

Tony considered it while he ordered the ten coffees before turning back to McGee. "You're on, Probie."

"She had to give you her number, Tony." McGee said quickly. "You can't just look it up."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I got that, McParanoid."

6-6-6

Later, sitting at his computer trying to chase down a lead, Tony regretted agreeing to the bet. The problem was that there was no way he could win it. There was no way JJ would give a guy like Agent Dinozzo her number, which meant there was no way for her to do so without her team getting suspicious. Which meant that he had agreed to a bet that he had no chance of winning – and McGee was going to rub it in his face for months!

"Whatcha have?" Gibbs barked suddenly and Tony forced himself to jump, spilling his third cup of coffee on his hand.

"Ow!" Tony exclaimed, wiping the hot liquid off his smarting hand.

"I can't find any connections between the victims' credit card statements, boss." McGee answered, as he shot Tony a disgusted look.

"I have found Corporal Davis' car." Ziva announced proudly. "It is in the pound."

"Impounded." Tony ignored her glare as he turned his concentration back to his computer.

"The car has been 'impounded' by the Baltimore PD." Ziva's tone was longsuffering.

"Dinozzo, go get the car." Gibbs ordered sharply.

Tony winced, he hadn't enjoyed his short tenature as a police officer at the station. "Can it wait, boss? I'm tracking down a lead."

"Now, Dinozzo!" Gibbs snapped. "Ziva can take over whatever the hell you're working on."

Tony grimaced in annoyance, but sent Ziva everything he had so far.

"Mind if one of my agents accompanies him, Gibbs?" Agent Hotchner spoke suddenly.

Gibbs waved a hand dismissively, which Hotchner seemed to take as a yes, because next think Tony knew JJ was being told to go with him.

"JJ works as our Law Enforcement liaison." Hotchner reminded Tony. "Let her handle it."

Tony barely managed to produce a proper response to the insinuation that he couldn't do his job, he was too excited at the prospect of getting a few hours alone with JJ. Admittedly he'd seen her that morning, but he had been feeling off balance all day and he doubted Gibbs would let him go home that night.

"Sorry I didn't warn you." JJ apologised once they were in the car. "Everything happened so fast and I couldn't get away."

"I wouldn't have been able to answer anyway." Tony admitted. "I had a meeting with the Secretary of Defence this morning."

"What?" JJ turned to him surprise. "Why?"

"I have a new assignment."

"What?" JJ didn't sound happy. "Lucten said you only had two years left!"

"One year, eight months now." Tony corrected. "Secretary Moore promised me that my new assignment wouldn't mean an extension of my time undercover. He said that he would pull me out now, if not for the importance of my new assignment."

"What's your new assignment?" JJ asked curiously.

"Same as my old one, except they want dirt on Secretary Davenport." Tony told her.

"The Secretary of the Navy?" JJ questioned. "Wow."

"I know." Tony took a hand off the steering wheel to run it through his hair. "And Lucten's out of the loop."

"What about Vance?"

"I still have to look into him too." Tony told her. "If nothing else, my investigation into Vance is a cover for an investigation into Davenport."

JJ laughed. "A cover within a cover."

"Exactly." Tony grinned at her. "On another note, I bet McGee that I could get you to give me your number."

JJ laughed again. "Tony!"

"I know." Tony chuckled. "I'm going to have to forfeit. I think I was still a bit off balance from my meeting with Moore and from seeing you in the bullpen."

"You don't necessarily need to forfeit." JJ argued.

"JJ, there's no way your team would believe that you would voluntarily give me your number." Tony argued. "And McGee is not a quiet loser, he would tell everyone."

"I could tell them that I felt sorry for you." JJ suggested.

Tony laughed. "Thanks, but don't worry about it. I would rather buy McGee's lunch for two weeks than have your team get suspicious."

6-6-6

It took them over an hour to get to the Baltimore PD and by the time they had arranged to have the car shipped to Abby it was almost five.

"We should stop for dinner." JJ commented as they pulled away from the Police Building.

Tony nodded. "What do you feel like?"

"Turkish." JJ answered with a smile.

"Sounds good." Tony agreed. "I know a good takeaway place a few minutes from here."

Once they had bought their dinner and were driving back to the Navy Yard, JJ turned to Tony.

"What was it like living here? You hardly mention it."

Tony sighed. "I hated it. My partner was dirty, which was all part of the plan, but I hated having to work with him."

"Why Baltimore?" JJ asked curiously. "How did you know that you would 'get Gibbs' attention'?"

"Baltimore had the highest rate of crimes involving navy personal." Tony explained. "We knew that Gibbs would eventually end up assigned to a case there. I kept a close eye on the cases that came on and managed to ensure that I got any case that had a link to the navy. I'd studied Gibbs' file closely and I knew what sort of person Gibbs found interesting.

"We arranged for me to be partnered with a dirty cop, that way I could show Gibbs that I had a strong belief in right and wrong and was willing to stand up for my beliefs – even against partners. I was cheeky enough to be interesting, but obedient enough that he knew he could work with me. It worked like a charm."

"That's a little scary." JJ commented. "Basically, you profiled him."

Tony chuckled. "Yes, that's what I do. That's why I've been doing that research on Criminal Profiling. I'm going to write a paper on the similarities and differences between my kind of profiling and the profiling your team does. I think both disciplines could learn a lot from each other."

"So profiling and undercover work go together?" JJ questioned.

"Yes, for good undercover work at least. You need to be able to read your mark."

"That's scary." JJ said again.

"Why?" Tony glanced at her in interest. "Your team profiles people every day."

"True, but you don't just profile people. You profile them, and then become exactly who you need to be to get into their good graces." JJ pointed out. "Have you ever done that with me?"

"Of course not." Tony denied seriously. "I've profiled you of course, I knew that you were a fed before our first conversation, but that's only because I can't really turn it off."

"Sorry." JJ apologised quickly. "I didn't really think you would have."

Tony smiled at her. "Its fine, a perfectly reasonable response."

6-6-6

The bullpen was a flurry when Tony and JJ returned, everyone researching desperately.

"I found something." Ziva told him smugly. "The victims all had contact with the U.S.S. Brewer in the last six months."

Tony rolled his eyes. That had been the lead he had been working on. He had already managed to connect three of the four victims to the ship when Gibbs pulled him away.

"So what's the plan?" Tony asked.

"We're looking into the crew." McGee answered. "You can look into the sailors with surnames S through to Z."

"Right." Tony nodded and sat behind his computer, watching as JJ talked to her team who had just come out of the conference room they had been working in.

"Get to work, Dinozzo!" Gibbs snapped, apparently noticing his inattention.

"Yes, boss." Tony nodded. "Sorry, boss."

"We have a profile, Agent Gibbs." Agent Hotchner announced as the FBI agents entered the bullpen. "It will help you narrow down your search."

Gibbs didn't look convinced, but he leaned back in his chair and gave the other agents his attention.

"We're looking for a white male, between the ages of twenty five and forty." Agent Morgan started.

"This won't be the first time he's lashed out in anger, though previous occasions were likely much less serious." Agent Prentiss continued.

"He's probably a non-commissioned officer." Agent Rossi added. "He's intelligent and committed, but his anger management problems will have prevented him from becoming an officer."

"Something happened to him in the last week to make him snap." Agent Morgan said. "There is a possibility that the first victim was involved in this event, but it is just as likely that all his victims are substitutes."

Tony had to admit that he thoroughly enjoyed watching JJ's team at work. Profiling was an art form and the BAU were masters at it.

6-6-6

The profile helped them to narrow their suspect pool down to three different men: Sergeant Coil, Corporal Stewart and Corporal Rice, but not even Abby or Garcia could help them narrow it down further.

"We should arrest them all." Ziva snapped.

Agent Prentiss shook her head. "We should try to catch him in the act."

"So we put a tail on each of them." McGee suggested from his seat behind his computer.

Gibbs growled in frustration and Tony knew how he felt. He hated the thought of having to use a civilian as bait.

"Uh, boss?" McGee said suddenly looking up from his computer with an excited grin.

"What?" Gibbs growled again.

"I've been tracking their credit cards and I just got a hit." McGee answered.

"Which one?" Agent Morgan asked in interest.

"All of them." McGee explained. "Stewart, Coil and Rice all just used their credit cards at a bar ten minutes from here."

Gibbs was silent for a moment before his eyes flicked to Tony. "Dinozzo, go see Abby. Tell her what you need."

Tony nodded obediently as he stood with a grin, finally something useful he could do. It had been months since Gibbs had last use Tony's undercover abilities on a case and, ridiculous as it sounded considering the big picture, he had missed it.

"What does he need?" McGee asked cluelessly.

"Dog tags, McOblivious." Tony answered as he strode out the bullpen.

The last thing Tony heard before getting on the elevator was Hotchner pulling Gibbs aside for a word.

6-6-6

It didn't take long to get everything he needed from Abby. The victims had been found in civies, and there had been no evidence of their killer changing their clothes, which meant he didn't need a uniform. All he needed was a pair of jeans, a hoody, and dog tags and he was ready. His hair was already short enough, of course, he hadn't had a non-regulation haircut since he was fifteen.

McGee thought the idea of Tony pretending to in the navy hilarious and didn't hide his lack of confidence that Tony could pull it off.

Agent Hotchner didn't seem particularly happy by the idea, but apparently Gibbs had convinced him to give Tony a shot. Tony wondered whether Hotch's reluctance was why none of the BAU team had undercover training.

JJ looked worried, something that Tony understood. It wasn't every day that she had to watch him try and convince a serial killer to choose Tony as his next victim.

The rest of the BAU team looked just as unconvinced at Tony's ability to pull it off as McGee, something that gave Tony a feeling of pride. They were experienced profilers and he had managed to convince them of his act so thoroughly that they couldn't even imagine that he might make a good soldier.

The bar was exactly the sort of place he had spent time at when he was younger: loud, filled with marines, and home to multiple pool tables.

It was quite nice to have an undercover assignment that allowed him fall back on his marine posture. So far the victims had been described as 'nice guys, though a bit cocky', so he pasted a cocky grin on his face and made his way across to the counter.

It took him a few minutes to get a drink and Tony used the time to scan the room for the three suspects. The two corporals were sitting in a booth with three other sailors, but Tony couldn't see the sergeant anywhere.

Tony ordered a Carona, thankful that he didn't actually have to drink any of it, and then moved away from the counter.

He looked around the room again, checking on the corporals and looking for sergeant again. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he spotted the sergeant exiting the head.

The instant he saw the sergeant he knew he'd found their killer, there was just something about the man.

Tony made his way across the bar and brushed past the sergeant.

"What where you're going, sailor!" Sergeant Rice snapped at him and Tony felt a sliver of victory at the response.

Tony stopped and turned around, lazily pulling himself to attention before taller man with an insolent smirk. "Sorry, sir, didn't see you there."

Sergeant Rice scowled at him. "What's your name, boy?"

"Private Hummer," Tony paused for a moment before adding the, "sir."

Sergeant Rice's eye twitched at Tony's disrespect, but otherwise ignore it. "I think you should find another bar, Hummer."

Tony allowed his eyes to show his disdain for a moment. "With all due respect, sir, I was here first."

Rice's eye twitched again and he grabbed hold of Tony's arm. "Come with me!"

Tony made a few grumbling complaints, though nothing too loud – he didn't want any of the bar's other occupants coming to his rescue, and allowed himself to be dragged outside and into a nearby alley.

"Give me fifty!" Rice ordered with a snarl, shoving Tony towards the ground.

Tony caught himself and gave the sergeant an outraged glare. "I'm off duty."

"Now, private!" Rice snarled, spittle flying everywhere.

Groaning in annoyance, Tony lowered himself to the ground and began the ordered push-ups. "One, two, three, four, five…" He was at thirty nine when he felt a needle prick his neck. "What the hell?"

"Keep going, private!" Rice ordered. "You've got twenty left."

"Like hell I have." Tony stood up quickly and glared as he rubbed his neck. "I was at thirty nine. Besides, something bit me."

"Don't you argue with me!" Rice snarled, his fist clenched. "Get down and give me fifty!"

"Fuck you!" Tony threw back. "I'm off duty. You can't make me."

Rice snarled and tried to punch him, Tony dodged it quickly. Unfortunately that was when the world around him started getting fuzzy and Rice's next punch hit him square in the jaw.

"Don't you fucking talk back to me, you fucking worm." Rice ordered as he punched Tony in the nose and then kneed him in the stomach.

"NCIS!" Gibb's voice shouted suddenly. "Hands up."

"FBI!" Agent Morgan's voice came from the opposite direction. "Back away from him."

Rice swore loudly and shoved Tony to the ground and kicking at his ribs.

Tony groaned as he felt a rib crack and allowed whatever drug Rice had administered to drag him into unconsciousness.

6-6-6

The lights seemed overly bright when Tony woke up and the noises overly loud. He groaned and shut his eyes, wishing he could shut his ears as well.

"Tony? Are you awake?" Abby's voice made him groan again. "Tony?"

Tony nodded in answer, but instantly regretted the movement. It hurt!

"I'll get someone." Abby announced and Tony could hear her practically running out of the room.

It wasn't unusual to wake up in the hospital, though it had been a while, and Tony tried to figure out what exactly was hurting.

"Awake I hear, Agent Dinozzo." A new voice sounded in the room and Tony forced his eyes open again. The voice belonged to a male doctor who looked to be about Tony's age. "I'm Doctor Pierre, how do you feel?"

"Okay." Tony answered, only half lying. Sure it hurt, but it wasn't too bad. Though talking wasn't particularly fun, he presumed Rice's punch to his jaw was to blame for that.

The doctor chuckled. "I doubt that, Agent Dinozzo. You have two cracked ribs, a broken nose, and a severely bruised jaw. You will also be feeling the after-effects of the drug you were injected with."

That explained why Tony's head was swimming. "Is everyone else okay?"

"Everyone's fine, Tony!" Abby reassured him quickly. "They took Sergeant Rice back to NCIS. I said I'd stay with you."

"How long was I out?" Tony asked. "Can I get some water?"

"Three hours." Doctor Pierre answered. "I'll send a nurse in with some water soon. I just need to run some tests first."

"I can get the water." Abby offered before leaving him alone with the doctor.

Tony submitted himself to the doctor's tests and grinned in thanks when Pierre agreed to release him after six hours of observation. Tony knew from experience that he would be off work for at least two weeks, and then on desk duty for four, due to the cracked ribs – but he would rather spend that at home with JJ than in the hospital.

"I'll come look after you!" Abby announced when she heard that Tony was going to be released so soon. "I can make you soup."

"I'll be fine, Abby." Tony reassured her. "It's not my first rodeo. I'll rest better if no one else is there."

Abby frowned by eventually nodded in agreement. "Alright, but call me if you need anything!"

"I will." Tony agreed with a smile.

Gibbs visited him a few hours later and told him that they had managed to wrangle a confession out of Rice. It hadn't been hard, particularly since they'd caught him red handed.

Abby insisted on driving him home, which was sweet, but annoying. She walked him to his door, but thankfully left him there and Tony let himself into his old flat with a sigh.

"Tony!" JJ's voice startled him and Tony flinched.

"Damn!" Tony groaned. "That hurt."

"Sorry!" JJ stood from where she had been sitting on the couch and moved closer. "You look awful."

"And again I say, that hurt!" Tony joked.

"I wasn't sure you'd be back today." JJ said. "What did the doctors say?"

Tony made his way over to the couch and lowered himself down slowly. "Two cracked ribs, a broken nose, and a bruised jaw."

"Two cracked ribs?" JJ repeated shrilly, as she sat beside him.

"I'm okay." Tony reassured her. "I'll be off work for two weeks and on desk duty for four. I'll be all better in six weeks."

JJ narrowed her eyes. "How many times have you cracked your ribs?"

"Only a couple of times." Tony answered. "Why are you here? I thought you'd be at home?"

"We were working past midnight last night, so Hotch gave us the morning off." JJ explained. "I slept here, I presumed this was where your team would drop you once the hospital released you. Do you want a ride home?"

Tony tried to grin at her, but his jaw hurt too much. "Yes, please."

"Your team won't check on you?" JJ asked as she helped him to his feet.

"No," Tony shook his head. "They're more the out of sight, out of mind type. Besides, I told Abby that I would rest better if I was left alone. She wanted to come look after me."

"That was nice of her." JJ commented as they left the apartment.

"Yeah." Tony agreed. "She's confusing. She was awful to me when Gibbs was gone, almost as bad as McGee and Ziva, but now that he's back…"

"Strange." JJ pushed the button for the elevator. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore." Tony admittedly. "But I'll live."

"Of course you will." JJ smiled at him. "I have to say I'm kind of looking forward to nursing you back to health."

Tony leant down to gently kiss her, ignoring the pain in his jaw. "Me too."


	7. Thanksgiving

**Set four months after 'New Orders' (one year and six months after they met).**

JJ shut the door behind her and slipped off her shoes with a relieved sigh. Her feet hurt!

"Is that you, JJ?" Tony's voice drifted down the hall.

"Yeah." JJ hung her coat on the rack and followed the sound of Tony's voice. "Where are you?"

"In the office."

JJ stopped at the entrance to the office and smiled happily at the sight of Tony at the desk – she hadn't seen him in over a week.

"Welcome home." Tony grinned at her and beckoned her closer. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." JJ moved towards Tony, enjoying the feel of soft carpet against her feet.

Tony waited until she was within arm's reach, before pulling her closer so that she was straddling his legs.

JJ leaned in to kiss him, she really had missed him.

"I wasn't sure you'd be back today." Tony commented after a few minutes.

"I thought I'd surprise you." JJ smiled. "I was planning on making you a home-cooked meal before you got home from work."

"We got the day off." Tony explained.

JJ looked at the laptop on the desk. "What are you working on?"

"Vance and Davenport." Tony sighed. "I arranged for a key log programme to be placed on their work computers, which is great, but it's a lot of reading."

JJ winced sympathetically. "Any luck?"

"Vance seems clean so far, I'm starting to wonder whether Davenport's just using him as a distraction." Tony told her. "There's nothing solid on Davenport, but it's given me some more avenues to pursue."

"That's great about Vance."

"I guess, doesn't stop him from hating me and I still have to keep digging." Tony grimaced. "So, you mentioned a home cooked meal?"

JJ laughed. "Smooth, very smooth. I barely noticed your attempt to change the subject."

Tony rolled his eyes with a grin. "I'm off the clock, I'm allowed to have socially awkward moments. What are you planning on making?"

"I bought a beef roast." JJ answered. "I thought a classic roast sounded nice."

"Definitely." Tony agreed. "Can I help?"

"Sure." JJ told him as she stood up off his lap. "You can help me cut the veges. I'm going to have a shower first though, so I'll come get you when I ready to start."

Tony wiggled his eyebrows with a grin. "Unless you want company?"

JJ considered his offer before shaking her head. "As nice as that sounds, we'd never get the roast in the oven on time. Maybe later?"

"Definitely!"

7-7-7

It was a few hours later, when they were sitting at their dinner table enjoying their meal, that JJ brought up the subject that she'd spent the last few months considering.

"I've been thinking about what you said about telling my parents the truth."

"And?"

"And I think you're right." JJ told him. "I don't want to lie to them anymore. Do you think you could get permission to tell them?"

"I already have it." Tony answered with a smile. "Lucten signed off on it last month. They'll just need to sign the non-discloser agreement like you did."

"Wow." JJ stared at him. "You're amazing. How did you know what I'd decide?"

"I didn't, but I wanted to be prepared just in case. We can't tell them about the newest part of my job though."

JJ nodded. "Okay, that seems reasonable."

"When do you want to tell them?" Tony asked. "I presume you're planning on introducing me to them too?"

"Of course." JJ nodded seriously. "I would have taken you home last Christmas if it had been possible."

Tony chuckled. "Probably best that they never meet Special Agent Dinozzo."

"Definitely." JJ agreed with a small smile. "They're a bit conservative."

"I'd sure they'll be delighted to hear that their darling daughter has moved in with a navy jarhead then."

"You've got a doctorate." JJ protested. "You are definitely not a jarhead."

"I'm glad to hear it." Tony grinned. "So when?"

"Is there any chance you could get a week off work over thanksgiving?" JJ asked. "I thought maybe we could visit them then."

"You want to stay with them for a week?" Tony asked. "You're going to announce to your father that you've secretly been dating me and that we've moved in together and then trap me there with them for seven days?"

JJ laughed. "It won't be that bad! So can you get that time off?"

"I'll ask." Tony promised. "I'll have to get General Pike's permission and then Colonel Lucten's and the Gibbs' and finally Vance's."

"That's ridiculous." JJ informed him. "When will you know by?"

"If I start putting the forms in tomorrow, I should know by the end of the week." Tony told her. "Will that give you enough time?"

"Yes, that should work." JJ nodded. "Thanks."

"Anytime, sweetheart."

7-7-7

Tony had to admit that he had actually been quite surprised when all the relevant parties had agreed to his request for leave. He'd spun Gibbs and Vance a line about going skiing with his frat brothers and they had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

He and JJ had decided to drive to her parents' house since North Versailles was only four hours away and had left early to avoid traffic. They had taken Tony's car, mostly because he was nervous as hell and really wanted some kind of security blanket, but they took turns driving.

It was embarrassing how anxious he was feeling about meeting JJ's family. Meeting her parents would have been bad enough, but both JJ's siblings would be there with their families too. It was a terrifying prospect, which was ridiculous considering the amount of actually life-threatening situations he had found himself in over the last twenty years.

Tony took a deep breath as they drove past a sign that welcomed them to North Versailles. "Do you want to take over? You know the area."

"I can direct you." JJ told him from where she was cuddled against his side. He had never been so glad that his 1966 Ford Mustang had bench seats. "You're going to want to turn right in about a minute."

"Okay, so you grew up here?" Tony asked.

"Sure did." JJ grinned. "In the same house that Mom and Dad still live in. Mom actually works at my old Elementary school."

"Cute." Tony chuckled. "You'll have to show me around."

"Definitely." JJ agreed. "Turn right here."

"This is a nice neighbourhood." Tony commented a few minutes later when they turned into the street JJ's parents' lived on.

"Yeah." JJ smiled fondly. "I was really lucky growing up. See that tree? I crashed my bike into it when I was a kid and broke my little finger."

Tony laughed. "You crashed your bike into a tree?"

"When I was a _child_." JJ emphasised. "I haven't crashed my bike for years."

"You still have a bike?" Tony asked in surprise. "I haven't seen one in the garage."

"I have one here." JJ explained. "Group bike rides are a family tradition."

"I haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid." Tony commented. "Not since my father sent me to my first boarding school."

"See that house with the roses?" JJ pointed. "That's my parents' place. And we'll have to fix that. I'll have you biking in no time."

Tony parked his car on the curb and stared up at the house.

JJ giggled. "You know, it's actually kind of cute how nervous you are."

Tony grimaced. "I've never actually done a 'meet the family thing' before."

"It'll be fine." JJ squeezed his hand. "Andrea and Randy being here will probably make it even easier – particularly since their kids will be here too. Both Mom and Dad are very committed doting grandparents."

"I still can't believe Pike and Lucten gave me permission to spill the beans to your entire family." Tony said.

"So you've said many times." JJ smiled fondly. "But it certainly makes things easier."

Tony watched as a man around JJ's age exited the Jareau's house and began making his way towards their car.

"Your brother?" He asked.

JJ grinned releasing her seatbelt. "Yeah, come on."

Tony watched her get out of the car, before reluctantly following her example.

"Randy!" JJ threw her arms around her brother and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, Jenny!" Randy hugged her back.

After a minute, JJ stepped back and smiled up at Tony. "Randy, this is Tony, Tony, this is my younger brother Randy."

Tony stretched out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Randy shook Tony's hand firmly. "Do you want a hand with the bags? Knowing Jenny she probably filled her one till it was bursting."

"I did not." JJ retorted.

"No," Tony agreed opening the car boot. "You just packed two bags."

Randy laughed loudly and accepted one of JJ's suitcases from Tony. "Sounds like Jenny."

"Hey!" JJ protested with a smile as she lifted out her other suitcase.

Tony set his own suitcase beside him and then locked the car.

"Come on then." Randy called as he began walking back to the house. "The welcome committee is very excited to meet you."

JJ rolled her eyes and took hold of Tony's free hand. "One down."

"Yeah, only five to go." Tony retorted as they made their way toward the house.

"Only if you don't include the kids." JJ pointed out.

Tony groaned. "So eleven to go. That's just great."

"Do you remember their names?"

"Randy is married to Ann, they have one kid – Eleanora who is only just one." Tony recited. "Andrea is your older sister and she is married to Richard. They have five children – which is a lot! Matthew is fifteen, Melanie is twelve, Rob and Dan are both nine, and Penny is only three months older than Eleanora."

"Impressive." JJ grinned. "Though it doesn't look as though Andrea and Richard are here yet. You can always tell because they drive this massive people-mover."

"So you're telling me that the children that you promised would distract your parents from me are yet to arrive? Maybe we should come back later?" Tony asked.

JJ rolled her eyes as she pushed open the front door. "Come on, let's get it over with."

JJ's family were waiting for them in the living room and when her mother saw them she bustled forward to embrace JJ. Tony took the opportunity to quickly study the people in the room. JJ had obviously inherited her blond hair from her mother as her father, a tall friendly looking man, had greying brown hair. Randy's hair was brown like his father's, but the woman sitting beside him had red hair – as did the toddler playing at their feet.

"Mom, Dad, Ann, this is Tony." JJ introduced him after her mother released her. "Tony, this is Paul, Sandy, Randy's wife, Ann, and their daughter Eleanora."

"Nice to meet you." Tony greeted them all, offering his hand to JJ's father who shook it – his grip just as firm as Randy's had been.

"It certainly is." Sandy looked him up and down. "I've been looking forward to meeting you since Jenny told me that she had started seeing someone."

"Why don't you both have a seat?" Paul offered.

"Yes, do!" Sandy agreed. "Would you like a drink? Or something to eat? You must have been on the road early to have made it here by eleven."

JJ sat on one of the two seater couches and pulled Tony down beside her. "We're fine, mom. We stopped on the way."

"Alright then." Sandy sat in the chair nearest JJ. "So long as you're sure."

"How was the drive?" Paul asked them.

"It was fine." JJ told him. "We brought Tony's car and took turns driving."

"He let you drive it?" Randy asked her in surprise. "It's a Ford Mustang, right?"

"Yeah." Tony nodded. "Nineteen sixty six model."

"And again I say, 'you let Jenny drive it'?" Randy asked grinning at his sister.

JJ stuck her tongue out at him as Ann, Randy's wife elbowed him in the side.

"Are you saying you wouldn't let me drive it if it was yours?" Ann asked him in mock outrage.

Randy considered that for a moment. "Well, you did back into the letterbox…"

"When I was sixteen!" Ann protested. "I should never have let Dad tell you that story."

"Don't worry, dear." Sandy smiled conspiratorially across the room. "Have I ever told you about the time Randy almost hit our neighbour's poor little dog and hit my best roses instead?"

"Yeah, well, Jenny rode her bike into a tree!" Randy told the room.

"I was eight!" JJ defended.

"Actually, dear, you were eleven." Sandy corrected.

Tony chuckled. "Suddenly I'm regretting letting her drive my car."

JJ elbowed him.

7-7-7

The rest of JJ's family arrive a few hours later and the sudden influx of children was startling. Tony hadn't spent much time with children, his life didn't really lend itself to that kind of thing, but the kids all seemed well-behaved, if a bit tired and grumpy.

"We've been driving since four this morning." Andrea told them apologetically. "Penny slept most of the way, but the older kids didn't seem to get any sleep."

Andrea was just as blond as JJ, but that was where the similarities stopped. Andrea was eight years, and five children, older than her younger sister and it showed. Her husband, Richard, who, at forty was the same age as Tony, seemed to be a quiet man, but he had greeted Tony with a smile.

After lunch, Andrea and Richard insisted on their children having an afternoon nap, much to the disgust of the two oldest children, and Ann decided to put Eleanora down in the crib beside Penny.

"So," Randy started once all the adults were sitting around the lounge with hot drinks in their hands. "What's with all the secrecy, Jenny? Mom said you wouldn't even tell her what Tony here does."

"Subtle, Randy, really subtle." Andrea hassled her youngest sibling. "I thought you were going to let Dad ask the questions."

"It's my fault." Tony admitted. "What I do is very confidential and JJ and I decided that it would be easiest if I explained it to you all in person." He opened his satchel, which he had left sitting at his feet, and pulled out the file containing the non-disclosure forms.

"Before Tony can tell you anything he needs you to sign these forms." JJ told her family. "They're normal non-disclosure forms. I signed an identical one last year, a few months after we started dating."

Sandy narrowed her eyes. "Just how long have to two of you been dating?"

"Uh," JJ looked uncomfortable. "A year and a half."

"You meant to tell me that you were seeing each other for ten months before you told me?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah," JJ grabbed onto Tony's hand. "It's just that, with Tony's job, we weren't really telling anyone."

"Is why you were so weird last Christmas?" Andrea asked. "You spent half the time staring at your phone."

JJ blushed. "Yeah, I really wanted to bring Tony with me, but…"

"But you hadn't even told us he existed yet." Sandy finished, her tone hard.

"Right." JJ nodded weakly. "But when we decided to move in together I realised that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him and so I told you."

"You're living together?" Sandy asked loudly.

"Shh, Mom!" Andrea hissed. "You'll wake the kids."

Sandy sat back with a huff.

"I think you'd better show us those forms." Paul told Tony, his expression closed off.

Tony squeezed JJ's hand before standing up and handing out the forms.

"Richard, you're a lawyer, could you look them through for us?" Paul asked his son-in-law.

Tony settled back beside JJ and tried to ignore the increasingly hostile looks he was receiving.

It took Richard ten minutes to carefully read through the first form, and then scan through other five to ensure that they all said the same thing. When he was finished he passed the forms back to everyone and nodded.

"There aren't any nasty surprises." Richard told the family. "Basically, whatever it is that Tony does is a matter of national security and if we tell anyone we will be committing treason."

"Treason?" Randy echoed in surprise.

JJ leaned forward earnestly. "Come on, guys. Tony went to a lot of effort to get these for you all. Please just sign them so that we can explain everything to you."

It took a few more sighs, but eventually JJ's family had all signed the forms and Tony put them back in his satchel.

"So, what's all the fuss about?" Paul asked seriously.

"I'm a marine." Tony started. "A lieutenant colonel, to be exact, and my speciality is undercover work. I've served in a lot of places, including Columbia and Iraq, but right now I'm stationed at NCIS."

"So you're a federal agent, just like Jenny?" Sandy asked.

"Not exactly." Tony answered, inwardly wincing at how vague it sounded. "My cover is that of a fed, but I've been tasked with uncovering corruption at NCIS. SecNav, the Secretary of the Navy, has some concerns about some of the senior agents at NCIS, as well as some of the procedures."

"And you've been doing this for a year and half?" Randy asked and Tony suddenly remembered that JJ's brother was a police officer. "That's a long time for an undercover operation."

"It is." Tony agreed. "But I've actually been undercover for about seven and a half years."

"Shit!"

"Randy!" Sandy admonished sharply.

"Sorry, Mom."

"Tony had been undercover for about six years when he met me." JJ told them. "He used to go to this little café near my house sometimes and drop his cover. He met me there one morning and I gave him my number. His handler told him he should ring me and he did. We dated four months before telling me the truth."

"So nobody knows?" Andrea asked curiously.

"No, not even my team." JJ answered. "We've actually had to work with Tony's team at NCIS a few times and we still managed to hide it from them."

Randy looked sceptical. "Isn't your team made up of profilers?"

"Tony is _very_ good at what he does." JJ squeezed his hand.

"I know it's not ideal." Tony told them all. "The higher ups have promised that I'll only be undercover for another year and a half and then that's it for me. I'll resign before I let them send me undercover like this again."

"And you're living together?" Sandy's tone was disapproving.

"Yeah." JJ nodded. "I asked him to move in with me in February. We were barely seeing each other, because of our schedules. This way we at least get to spend the mornings together when I'm not away."

"And when I'm not pulling an all-nighter at the office." Tony added.

"A lieutenant colonel you said?" Paul asked quietly. "That's impressive."

"I wouldn't have thought they'd send someone of that rank undercover?" Randy asked.

"I was a Major when I started." Tony admitted. "And as JJ said, I'm good at what I do."

"He has a doctorate too." JJ told them.

Richard's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "What was your thesis on?"

"The psychological factors in undercover work. Both the psychological effects on the person undercover, and the factors needed for someone to be effective." Tony explained.

"This is a lot to take in." Sandy admitted.

"I know." JJ nodded. "Which is why I originally didn't want to tell you, but Tony talked me round."

Tony squeezed her hand grateful for her exaggeration of his input when the hostility in her family's expressions decreased significantly.

"So what are we telling the kids?" Andrea asked.

"That Tony is a federal agent like me." JJ answered. "We'd rather not tell them that he works at NCIS though, it's a really small agency."

"We can tell them that you're FBI like Jenny." Richard told them. "I doubt they'll really hear anything past federal agent anyway. Jenny's profession definitely makes her the coolest relative."

"Hey!" Randy protested. "Kids love police officers."

"Just not as much as they love me apparently." JJ grinned cheekily.

7-7-7

With the big announcement out of the way, the next few days went very smoothly. JJ's family were very welcoming and the kids were just as excited about Tony's career as Richard had said they would be.

It took Sandy a while to warm up to Tony, she blamed him for JJ lying about their relationship for ten months, but eventually she forgave him and started telling him stories about JJ as a child.

The fourth day of their visit, the day before Thanksgiving, Paul invited Tony out for a walk. They walked in silence for ten minutes before Paul eventually spoke.

"It has been good to meet you."

"Likewise," Tony agreed. "JJ had told me a lot about you all, but it's nice to put faces to names."

"I hope we'll see more of you." Paul commented.

"That's the plan. JJ often talks about how much she misses you all."

Paul was silent for a minute. "Will you be joining us for Christmas?"

"I don't know." Tony shrugged. "There are a lot of channels I have to go through to get time off."

"Even on Christmas day?" Paul asked in surprise.

"It depends on whether our team is rostered on this year." Tony explained. "We shouldn't be, but sometimes things pop up."

"Sounds like a rough job. It's the best part about being a teacher you know, regular holidays."

Tony laughed. "So I've been told."

They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Tony cleared his throat nervously.

"Hmm?" Paul asked patiently.

"I have something I've been wanting to ask you." Tony admitted.

"I'm all ears." Paul told him easily.

"JJ and I have been dating for a year and a half now." Tony started. "I love her very much and want to spend the rest of my life with her and I know she feels the same way."

"You're ten years older than her." Paul commented.

"I know." Tony sighed. "But I hardly think it matters at our age."

"Perhaps."

Tony cleared his throat again. "I want to marry her and I'd like your blessing."

"I only met you three days ago." Paul pointed out.

"I know." Tony nodded.

"But I can tell that you love her."

"I do." Tony confirmed passionately.

"And she seems very happy." Paul continued. "Sandy and I talked about this last night. She was sure that you would ask me, I didn't think you would."

Tony laughed nervously. "What did Sandy think about the idea?"

"She told me that if I didn't give you my blessing I'd have to make my own meals for a week." Paul laughed.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "So I have your blessing?"

"You do." Paul nodded slowly. "Look after my little girl, Tony."

"I will, sir." Tony promised seriously.

7-7-7

The day after thanksgiving, JJ took Tony cycling. Tony, riding her dad's bike, looked a bit shaky to start with, but he eventually got used to it again.

Thanksgiving had been wonderful, as it always was with her family. Though now, with Tony there, everything seemed even better. It was so exciting to see Tony getting along with her family and playing with the children. He was so good with them and it made JJ dream of the day when she and Tony had children of their own.

"That's where I had my first kiss." JJ pointed to the large oak tree that featured strongly in her memories. "I was fifteen and dating Thomas Miller."

Tony chuckled. "Cute."

"It's also where I broke my first bone." JJ laughed. "Well, aside from my finger anyway. I climbed it when I was thirteen and then fell out and broke my arm."

"You sound like a rambunctious child." Tony commented with a grin.

"I was certainly athletic." JJ agreed. "I started playing soccer when I was five, it was my version of ballet."

They continued biking through town, JJ taking the opportunity to tell Tony about different parts of her childhood. Eventually the houses began to thin out and JJ led Tony off the main road.

"So where are we going?" Tony asked.

"There's an old mountain biking trail down here." JJ grinned at him. "It's really basic, you probably won't fall off."

Tony groaned. "JJ! I haven't been on a bike since I was a kid."

JJ laughed. "Come on, it'll be fun!" She led him down a dirt path and towards the section of forest that contained the track. "Do you want to go first? Or shall I?"

Tony eyed the path suspiciously. "I'll go first. That way if I die you can rescue me."

JJ laughed again. "Come on, marine. Don't be such a wimp!"

"A wimp?" Tony looked outraged and he set his eyes determinedly on the track and set off.

JJ followed behind him carefully, her camera easily accessible in her pocket, and watched as he avoided the first few obstacles. It was the sixth corner that was his downfall as he took the corner too fast and ended up skidding across the ground and face planting into a large puddle of mud.

It made the perfect photo and definitely worth having risked her camera in her pocket. JJ took the photo, before stowing it in her backpack and leaving her bag next to her bike.

"Need a hand there?" JJ asked through her laughter.

Tony glared at her and reached out a hand. JJ gripped his hand to help him out and shrieked as he pulled her into the puddle with him.

"Tony!" JJ hit him on the arm even as she burst into laughter again. Tony laughed with her, even as he tried to wipe the mud off his face.

"At least I don't have mud on my face." JJ taunted.

Tony eyed her dangerously and then wiped a handful of mud all over her face and hair.

"Jerk!"

"Who's the one who brought me here camera at the ready?" Tony accused with a laugh. "You knew this would happen!"

"I didn't know I was going to get muddy too." JJ complained.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You thought I would let you trick me into falling into a mud puddle and not pull you in with me?"

JJ sighed. "Good point. I really should have expected this."

"Exactly." Tony laughed, dumping another handful of mud into her hair.

"We still have to bike home you know." JJ warned him.

"That's okay." Tony grinned. "No one here knows me. You on the other hand…"

JJ scooped up some mud and threw it at him.

Tony reached out an arm and pulled her closer until she was cuddled up against his side. "I love you."

"I love you too." JJ smiled.

Tony cleared his throat, sounding nervous, and JJ looked up in confusion. "I, uh, wanted to ask you something."

"Okay." JJ waited patiently.

"I love you, JJ." Tony said again. "I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

JJ's heart caught in her chest as an idea suddenly came to her. Surely not, surely Tony wouldn't propose to her while they were covered in mud.

"I know that we need to wait another year and a half before, well, anything, but, in a year and a half, when all this is over, will you marry me?" Tony asked.

JJ stared at him. "You're proposing to me in a mud puddle?"

Tony grimaced. "Good point, probably not the most romantic thing I've ever done."

JJ laughed in joy and shook her head. "No, it is romantic, in a weird kind of way. Yes, Tony, I will absolutely marry you!"

Tony grinned in obvious relief. "Oh good. I thought I'd blown it!"

"I love you, Anthony Dinozzo!" JJ told him seriously as she lent in for a muddy kiss.


	8. Girls' Night Out

**Set three months after 'Thanksgiving' (one year and nine months after they met).**

"So, JJ," Penelope leant forward. "Spill! Who is the new man in your life?"

JJ groaned quietly and gave Emily a betrayed look. She should have known that Emily and Penelope's invitation to drinks contained a hidden agenda. She was just glad that she and Tony had come up with a plan for this eventuality – she'd known she wouldn't be able to put her team off forever.

"It wasn't me." Emily denied quickly from behind her wine. "She figured it out all on her own."

"Actually, Derek told me." Penelope admitted with a grin.

"Derek knows?" JJ asked loudly.

"Everyone knows." Emily rolled her eyes. "Come on, JJ, how long did you think you could keep this a secret? You've been dating the guy for over a year."

JJ sighed and sipped at her wine. The wine was pretty disappointing after the delicious ones Tony always managed to buy.

"So who is he?" Penelope asked excitedly. "What does he do? Where did you meet him?"

"He's in the navy," JJ told them. "A marine. I met him at the café I stop for coffee at every morning."

"Cute!" Penelope exclaimed, bringing her cocktail up to her mouth.

"And his name is…?" Emily asked with a grin.

"Tony." JJ took another sip of wine and grimaced – it wasn't getting any nicer.

"See that wasn't that hard, was it?" Emily smirked.

"And when are you going to introduce us?" Penelope was basically bouncing in her seat.

JJ sighed. "I can't."

Emily and Penelope's eyes both widened in surprise. "Why not?"

"His job is sort of intensely confidential." JJ explained. "I had to sign a non-disclosure form just to get to know him."

"He's a marine." Emily rolled her eyes. "Don't they just run around and shoot things?"

JJ laughed. "Yeah, I said something similar to him on our first date."

"Really?" Emily laughed. "And he wasn't offended?"

"He has his PhD." JJ told them. "I think he's pretty confident in his intelligence."

"A marine with a PhD?" Penelope smirked. "Sounds like every woman's dream."

JJ smiled dreamily. "He's pretty great!"

Penelope giggled. "You've got it bad, girl!"

"And you're seriously not going to introduce us?" Emily asked.

"Not yet, anyway." JJ answered.

"So we will get to meet him?" Penelope beamed. "When?"

"In a year."

"A year?!" Penelope asked loudly. "But that's a whole three hundred and sixty five days away."

JJ sipped at her wine again and then stood up. "I'll be back. I need a new wine."

"What's wrong with the one you already have?" Emily asked.

"The taste leaves a lot to be desired." JJ made her way to the bar and ordered herself a cosmopolitan. At least Tony's immaculate taste in wine wouldn't have ruined that for her too.

Emily gave her a weird look when she got back. "Since when have you been a wine connoisseur?"

"Tony buys all our wine these days." JJ answered. "And it's made me spoilt."

"Wait," Penelope narrowed her eyes. "Tony buys all your wine? That almost makes it sound as though you've moved in with him."

JJ bit her lip guiltily. "Um,"

"Oh my god!" Penelope was bouncing again. "That's so exciting!"

"He moved in with me actually." JJ clarified.

Penelope waved a hand dismissively. "Semantics. So, when exactly did this moving take place?"

JJ thought about it. "Almost a year ago, I think. It was March last year."

"How long have you been dating him?" Emily asked in surprise.

"I met him in May two years ago." JJ told her. "So a year and nine months."

"I'm impressed." Emily told her. "We didn't start suspecting anything until around Thanksgiving that year."

"I can't believe it took you this long to ambush me." JJ laughed.

"I did ask you about it a year ago." Emily reminded her. "But then I decided to give you some space."

"So why the ambush now?" JJ asked with smile.

"It's been eleven months!" Emily rolled her eyes. "I figured I'd given you enough space."

"I want more details!" Penelope demanded. "What's he like?"

"He's wonderful." JJ answered with a small smile. "He's kind and thoughtful and loving."

"And attractive I hope." Penelope teased.

"Definitely attractive." JJ nodded. "Especially when he puts on his uniform."

Penelope put a hand to her forehead as though she was about to swoon. "I can only imagine."

"So any plans?" Emily asked. "Marriage? Kids?"

JJ thought about the question for a few seconds before throwing caution to the wind. She put her hand to the back of her neck and undid the necklace that was hiding beneath her blouse. Then she held it out for them to see, engagement ring and all.

"Oh my god!" Penelope squealed with excitement. "You're engaged!"

Emily reached out a hand. "Let me see."

JJ let the ring slide of the chain and handed it to her friend. It was so wonderful to be able to share her news.

"Very nice." Emily told her with a smile before handing the ring to Penelope. "Did he pick it out or did you?"

"It was all him." JJ answered.

"Then I'm very impressed." Emily commented. "It's very you."

"I know." JJ beamed. "I've always been sort of worried that the guy I ended up marrying would buy me a gold ring, because I just don't wear gold."

"Its white gold right?" Penelope asked, holding the ring up to her eye.

"Yeah."

"This must have cost him a fortune." Penelope pointed out. "There must be at least half a carat of diamonds on this thing."

"So tell us about how he proposed." Emily demanded.

JJ laughed. "I took him to parents' house for thanksgiving and then took him cycling on this little mountain biking track. Unfortunately, he hadn't ridden a bike since he was a kid and so he fell off right into this massive mud puddle. So I tried to help him out,"

"And he pulled you in with him?" Emily chuckled. "It's what I would do."

"Yeah," JJ grinned at the memory. "So we're both sitting there, covered in mud, and I made a smart comment about how at least I didn't have mud on my face or hair. So he picked up a handful of mud and dumped it on my head before rubbing it in."

"Are you sure this is the right story?" Penelope asked. "Because this doesn't sound like any proposal story I've ever heard."

JJ ignored her. "And then he pulled me closer, told me he loved me and asked me to marry him."

"In a mud puddle?" Emily question with an amused smile.

"He's one of a kind." JJ laughed.

"Did he give you the ring then?" Penelope asked excitedly.

JJ shook her head. "Thankfully, no. I would probably have dropped it in the mud, never to be seen again. He gave it to me when we got back to my parents."

"What did your Dad think?" Emily questioned.

JJ smiled. "Apparently Tony had already asked for his blessing a few days beforehand."

"Awww." Penelope exclaimed before handing JJ back the ring. "That's cute."

JJ slipped it on her finger, there was no point hiding it now.

"Perfect." Penelope sighed happily.

"So, I get why we can't meet him." Emily said after a minute. "But why all the secrecy? Why keep it a secret for so long if you were just going to tell us now?"

"It was Tony's idea." JJ told her. "According to him, curiosity has a time limit. So, if I had told you all of this a year ago, you'd probably be itching to meet Tony now."

"We are itching to meet him." Penelope pointed out.

"But not desperately." JJ replied. "It's hard to explain. Tony does this much better. Basically, he told me that as long as you were content to let me have my secret, I should leave it there. Because knowledge is a slippery slope."

Emily nodded slowly. "I think I understand, and it does make sense."

JJ smiled in relief.

"So can we tell people?" Penelope asked. "And by people, I mean Derek. He made me promise that I would give him all the dirty details."

"Yeah." JJ nodded. "You can tell everyone. I'll talk to Hotch on Monday."

"So we should hold off on telling people until then?" Penelope asked with a disappointed frown.

"Just ask Derek not to tell anyone until I get a chance to talk to Hotch." JJ suggested.

"I can't believe you're engaged." Emily commented after a short silence.

"It's like a movie." Penelope agreed. "Aren't you worried that he might get shot or something and leave you a not-widow?"

JJ frowned at her friend. "What?"

"Penelope!" Emily elbowed her. "What kind of question is that?"

Penelope winced. "Sorry."

"It's fine." JJ assured her. "I hadn't actually thought about it. Tony's job isn't very dangerous at the moment."

"You mean aside from all the secrecy?" Emily asked, her eyebrows raised.

This time it was Penelope who elbowed Emily. "Moving on. Tell us more about Tony. Does he wear boxers or briefs?"

JJ's mouth fell open in shock. "Penelope!"

8-8-8

Tony was in bed reading when he heard a taxi drop JJ off. He continued reading until she got to their bedroom, before closing his book and putting it on his bedside table.

"Have fun?"

"Yeah." JJ smiled. "They asked me about you."

"And?" Tony asked curiously.

"I told them what we planned." JJ answered, as she unbuttoned her blouse. "They love the ring, by the way."

Tony grinned. "And so they should. It's a great ring."

"I'll talk to Hotch on Monday." JJ told him, slipping off her skirt and stockings.

"How does it feel?" Tony asked. "I know you were really looking forward to telling Penelope and Emily."

"Great." JJ pulled her nighty over her head and then put her clothes in the laundry basket. "Though at one point Penelope asked me if I was scared that you would die on me."

Tony's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What?"

"That's what I said." JJ agreed. "I'll be back, I'm going to brush my teeth."

"Do you want a drink?" Tony asked. "I was just thinking of making myself a herbal tea before bed."

JJ smiled. "Yes, please. A chamomile sounds lovely."

It only took a few minutes to make two chamomile teas, and by the time Tony returned, JJ was in bed waiting for him.

"Thank you." JJ told him when he put her tea on her bedside table.

Tony put his own tea down, before climbing into bed beside her. "So Penelope asked you about me dying?"

JJ sighed. "I don't know what she was thinking. One minute she's excited that I'm engaged and the next minute she asked me whether or not I was scared that you would die and leave me a not-widow."

Tony grinned. "A not-widow?"

"I know!" JJ exclaimed. "Thankfully, Emily got her to stop talking. But then when I commented that you're job wasn't that dangerous, Emily pointed out that it had to at least be a little bit dangerous with all the secrecy."

Tony shifted closer to her and wrapped an arm around he back. "Sounds cheery."

"The problem is, they're right!" JJ admitted quietly. "What if you do die? What if Vance is dirty and decides to kill you? Or SecNav? And federal agents die all the time. What if you get killed by an unsub?"

Tony winced. "This goes both ways too, you know. You're a fed too."

"Exactly!" JJ exclaimed. "So why are we waiting to get married until this is all over?"

Tony looked down at her in surprise. "What?"

"We should get married soon." JJ said. "We could do it in North Versailles and invite my family."

"I thought you would want to wait until your team could be there." Tony commented.

"We can have a big reception in a year and invite everyone then." JJ told him.

Tony honestly had no idea what to say.

"What do you think?" JJ questioned.

"Uh," Tony grimaced. "I think we should sleep on it. This isn't the kind of decision that we want to make at midnight after you've been drinking and listening to your friends feed you horror stories."

JJ's body tensed, as though for a fight, and then she sighed. "Do you not want to get married?"

Tony winced. "Of course I do. You know that. I would marry you tomorrow, but I think we need to think about this some more. I don't want you to marry me because you're scared I might die."

JJ snuggled against his side. "I guess. That's not the only reason I want to marry you soon though. The girls just gave me the idea. I've never understood the point of a long engagement."

"A year and a half isn't a long engagement." Tony pointed out.

"And I don't want a big wedding." JJ went on, ignoring his interruption.

"How about we talk about it in the morning?" Tony suggested. "Or better yet, in a week. Think about it some more, talk to your mom, and if you still want to do this – then I'll contact Lucten and Pike and figure out how we can do it."

JJ twisted around and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

8-8-8

"Do you have a minute?" JJ asked as she stood in the doorway of Hotch's office.

"Do we have a case?" Hotch asked, rising in his seat.

"Nothing like that." JJ reassured him. "I just need to talk to you about something."

"Have a seat." Hotch offered gesturing to the chair that sat in front of his desk. "What can I do for you?"

JJ sat down and smoothed down her skirt nervously. "I was talking to Emily and Penelope on Saturday night and they mentioned that everyone knew that I have been seeing someone."

The corners of Hotch's mouth twitched upwards into an almost smile.

"I told them about Tony." JJ went on. "But I wanted to let you know as well, since we're actually engaged." She held up her left hand so that Hotch could see the ring.

Hotch's eyes widened in surprise. "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"When will we be meeting your fiancé?" Hotch asked curiously.

"Well, that's sort of the thing." JJ answered nervously. "Because of his job, Tony's not allowed to meet you for another year."

"He's not a criminal is he?" Hotch asked with another almost smile.

JJ laughed. "Nothing like that. He's a marine."

Hotch nodded. "Thank you for telling me."

JJ shrugged one shoulder. "Sorry I didn't tell you before. Things are just complicated because of his job."

"That's fine." Hotch assured her. "You aren't required to tell me anything about your private life if you don't want to."

"I know." JJ answered. "But we're a team. I don't like keeping secrets from all of you."

Hotch smiled at her. "I look forward to meeting him."

8-8-8

"I hear you're dating a marine?" Derek smirked at her when they bumped into each other at the coffee machine.

"Did you now?" JJ asked with a smile as she poured coffee into her mug

"A marine named Tony to be exact." Derek continued. "What did Hotch say?"

"Congratulations and that he looks forward to meeting him one day." JJ stirred in a spoon of sugar.

"Congratulations?" Derek asked as he poured is own mug of coffee.

JJ turned to face him. "Didn't Penelope tell you?" She held up her left hand for him to see.

"You're engaged?" Derek asked grabbing her hand to look at the ring. "Wow!"

"Hence the congratulations." JJ explained.

"I can't believe Penelope didn't tell me." Derek grumbled as Spencer wandered into the room holding an empty mug.

"What did Penelope tell you?" Spencer asked curiously.

"JJ's engaged?"

Spencer's mouth fell open in surprise. "What?"

"Exactly!" Derek agreed.

JJ rolled her eyes. "That makes no sense. You guys knew I was dating someone."

"Unofficially!" Derek protested. "You never actually told us."

"Consider this me telling you then." JJ told them with a smile as she poured milk into her coffee.

"You're supposed to tell your friends that you're dating someone before you get engaged." Derek told her.

Spencer looked confused. "Who is he?"

"Tony." JJ told him before sipping at her coffee.

"He's a marine." Derek added. "But that's all we know about him and JJ refuses to introduce us to him for another year!"

Spencer shook his head. "But why?"

"An excellent question." Derek smirked at her.

JJ rolled her eyes. "Tony's mission is confidential at the moment."

"Really?" Spencer eyes brightened in interest.

"So I can't talk about it." JJ added quickly.

"So you're engaged?" Spencer looked down at the ring on her finger. "That's great, JJ. Congratulations!"

JJ smiled at him. It was so nice to be able to finally tell her friends about her and Tony.

8-8-8

"So…"

Tony looked up from his book and across at JJ who was sitting next to him. "Hmm?"

"It's been a week." JJ told him.

Tony frowned as he tried to figure out what she meant. What had they been doing a week ago? JJ had gone out with Penelope and Emily and had come home upset about…oh.

"Right." He nodded.

"And I talked to my mom." JJ said. "She thinks it's a good idea."

"Really?" Tony asked in surprise. "But we've only been engaged for three months."

"I know." JJ agreed. "But there's no point prolonging our engagement just because."

"There's also no point getting married just because you're scared I might die." Tony countered.

JJ sighed. "I'll admit that the idea of you dying is what gave me the idea, but that's not the only reason. I want to be Mrs. Agent Doctor Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo."

Tony rolled his eyes. "That sounds ridiculous. Patience is a virtue you know."

JJ wrinkled up her nose. "You sound like my mom."

"I thought she liked the idea." Tony challenged lightly.

"She does." JJ replied. "She didn't at first, but when I explained all my reasoning to her she said it made sense. Especially when I promised that we would throw a big reception next year."

"And your dad?" Tony asked.

"Doesn't understand why us young folk wait so long to get married anyway." JJ chuckled.

Tony laughed with her. "So you want to get married soon?"

"I do." JJ grinned at him. "Mom and I were thinking maybe the 4th of April."

Tony calculated it in his head. "That's five weeks away."

"I know." JJ snuggled against his side. "What do you think?"

Tony wrapped an arm around her. "Sounds good to me."

8-8-8


	9. The Big Day

**Set one month after 'Girls' Night Out' (one year and ten months after they met).**

Colonel Lucten and Admiral Pike, Tony's handlers, hadn't been impressed to hear that Tony and JJ were planning on getting married. The biggest problem was that they couldn't submit a marriage licence because it would leave an electronic trail and anyone who did a background check on JJ would find Tony.

Tony had fought them though, reminding them that he'd been undercover for almost eight years and they couldn't expect JJ to put her life on hold. He was a little surprised that neither of them had brought him up on charges for insubordination.

They'd found a compromise in the end. Tony and JJ would get married, but their marriage licence and certificate wouldn't be filed until Tony's mission was finished at which point it would be back dated. It meant that they had to read the celebrant who was marrying them into the situation, but that was easy enough to do.

JJ's teammates had been excited to hear she was getting married, though disappointed that they couldn't be there, and she had been given the weeks before and after their wedding off. Tony's teammates didn't even know that he was dating JJ and Tony had barely managed to convince Gibbs to give him the day of his wedding and the following week off. Vance had been just as hard to convince – while Tony was now convinced that the man wasn't corrupt, he could still be an ass.

Unfortunately for Tony, Gibbs could also be an ass. Something he proved without a doubt when he didn't let Tony leave until midnight since they had a case and technically Tony's leave didn't start until Sunday. Which meant that Tony didn't get to North Versailles until four thirty in the morning at which point he curled up in the back of his car and attempted to get a few hours sleep.

He was woken by the sound voices outside the car.

"Randy, go tell Jenny that he made it."

"What's he doing out here?"

"Poor thing, he looks exhausted!"

Tony opened his eyes and sat up with a groan, wincing when he saw his soon to be parents-in-law staring at him through the window.

"Morning."

Sandy, JJ's mother, smiled. "Come on out, dear. You look like you could use some coffee."

Tony ran a hand through his hair and unlocked the car doors, before climbing out with his bag. "That sounds amazing. What time is it?"

"Just past seven." Paul told him. "Do you have any more bags?"

Tony grimaced, three hours sleep was better than nothing. "No, JJ brought everything else with her last week. How is she?"

"She's been a bit stressed." Sandy told him with a smile. "I think she was afraid that your boss wouldn't let you go after all."

"I'm sure the idea crossed his mind." Tony agreed as they made their way into the house. "But I waved my paperwork in his face and left at one past midnight."

"Midnight?" Paul winced. "You should have become a teacher. Nobody makes us stay up past nine."

Sandy led them into the kitchen and poured Tony a cup of coffee from the percolator. "What I want to know is why in heaven's name you slept in your car?"

"I didn't get here until four thirty." Tony explained after having taken his first gulp of the coffee. "I figured I'd let you all sleep. It's going to be a big day."

Sandy rolled her eyes. "You're just as self-sacrificing at Jenny told me you were."

"Sorry?" Tony grinned. "My car isn't too uncomfortable. I even had a blanket."

"So I saw." Sandy sniffed. "Do you want breakfast or a shower first?"

"A shower." Tony decided as he took another mouthful of coffee. "Aren't I supposed to be at Randy's this morning? So that JJ and I don't see each other? I would have driven to his place last night, but I realised that JJ never gave me the address."

"Jenny can just stay in her room for a while." Sandy told him. "Randy's here at the moment, he went to tell Jenny that you had arrived. You can both have breakfast here and then take Richard and kids with you."

"Where are the kids?" Tony asked curiously. "I would have thought they'd be up and running by now."

"The younger four are." Andrea, JJ's sister, answered dryly as she entered the room. "Richard took them out for a walk. Matthew's still in bed – apparently it's 'too early'."

"Richard's a good man." Sandy commented with a soft smile.

"Are we taking all the kids?" Tony asked. "Isn't Melanie a bridesmaid?"

"Yes, but she's twelve." Andrea said with a sigh as she accepted a mug of coffee from her mother. "Jenny, Anne and I will be having our hair and makeup done for the next five hours at least, Melanie can join us for the last two hours."

Tony grimaced. "Five hours?"

"Which is why you get the kids." Andrea told him with a grin. "You have it so easy. I was up at six in the morning on my wedding day and hair and makeup started at seven. Richard told me later that he didn't get up until nine and then he sat around in his pyjamas eating bacon and eggs until eleven. He didn't start getting ready until an hour and a half before the wedding!"

Tony laughed. "So any idea what Randy, Richard and the kids have planned for us this morning? JJ refused to tell me."

Andrea's eyes twinkled. "My lips are sealed."

Tony drained his coffee mug and rinsed it at the sink. "I think I'll head up for a shower now. I've been in this suit for over twenty four hours."

"I'll just run up and make sure that Jenny's safe in her room." Andrea told him. "And get Matthew out of bed. That kid would sleep in until lunchtime if we let him."

9-9-9

Tony always felt amazed at just how much better he felt after a hot shower and a clean set of clothes. He combed his hair and then headed downstairs to see what the plan was. The kitchen was full when Tony entered it, with Richard and the kids having returned from their walk.

"Glad you could make it." Richard smiled at him and held out a hand.

"Yeah." Tony shook his hand with a laugh. "Me too!"

"Uncle Tony couldn't miss his wedding, Dad!" Twelve year old Melanie rolled her eyes from his side.

"So we thought we'd take you out for breakfast." Randy told him with grin. "Also, good morning."

"Morning." Tony greeted him. "Breakfast sounds great, just so long as there's more coffee. I'm running on three hours sleep."

"I know that feeling." Randy told him with a grimace. "Just wait until you two have kids. Those first few months, three whole hours of uninterrupted sleep will seem like Christmas."

Richard nodded in agreement. "Matthew and Melanie weren't too bad, but I actually fell asleep during a meeting when the twins were babies."

"Stop it, you two!" Sandy scolded them from where she was fussing over Penny. "It's his wedding stay, stop trying scare him."

"Just telling the truth, mom." Randy grinned. "You guys ready to go?"

"Matthew's not up yet." Melanie told them. "I bet he's still asleep."

"Your mom went to wake him up a while ago." Sandy told her granddaughter.

"So he'll only be another hour then." Melanie said rolling her eyes. "He's like a girl."

"That's an insult to all girls everywhere." Randy told her with a grin. "Your Aunty Anne doesn't take that long to get ready."

"Neither does JJ." Tony commented.

"Why do you call Aunt Jenny, JJ?" Melanie asked curiously.

"Because that's how she introduced herself to me." Tony told her. "I'd never heard anyone call her Jenny until I met you guys last year."

"Really?" Melanie's eyes widened. "Could I call her JJ?"

"I think you'd have to ask your parents and JJ that." Tony told her.

Melanie immediately turned to her father. "Dad? Can I call Aunt Jenny, Aunt JJ?"

"I'll talk to your mom and let you know, okay?" Richard answered.

"What about us?" Dan, one of ten year old twins, asked. "Can we call her Aunty JJ too?"

Tony almost laughed, he had no idea how Richard and Andrea managed five kids and still managed to stay sane.

"Matthew will be down in a minute." Andrea announced as she swept into the room. "He assures me that all he needs to do now is gel his hair."

Melanie groaned. "But that'll take him ages!"

"How about we get ready while we're waiting?" Randy suggested. "What do we need?"

"Dan, Rob, put your shoes on please." Richard told his sons. "Melanie, do you have your coat?"

"All of the boys and Penny's clothes are at Randy's." Andrea said, though she seemed to be talking to herself. "And so are Randy, Richard and Tony's suits. Melanie will be getting changed here. Tony do you have everything you need?"

"I'll just put my bag in my car and take that." Tony told her.

"Remember that you're dropping Melanie off at eleven." Andrea told her husband. "And then you need to be at the garden at one."

Tony wandered over so he was standing next to Randy before whispering. "I thought this was going to be a small wedding."

"I asked Anne the same question." Randy told him with a grin. "She said that the hair and makeup was still important because of the photos and that it was like dress rehearsal for the reception next year."

"So they're going to spend five hours putting on makeup so that they can take some photos?" Tony asked.

Randy laughed. "Jenny said that the two of you planned the day together."

"We did," Tony nodded. "But she didn't mention that she spent the whole morning having her hair and makeup done. It sounds like a horrible way to spend a morning."

"Yeah, we definitely get the better end of the stick." Randy agreed.

9-9-9

JJ had to force herself not to look out the window at Tony when she heard them all leaving. It wasn't that she was superstitious, she was just a bit traditional at heart and loved the idea of the bride not seeing the groom before the wedding. She was sure it would have been easier if she hadn't been in a different city as Tony all week.

When she was sure that Tony was gone, she made her way downstairs to find her mother and sister.

"Coffee?" Mom asked with a beaming smile.

"No thanks." JJ hugged her. "A cup of tea would be great though."

"It seems so quiet." Andrea said with a grin. "Look, no kids!"

JJ laughed and hugged her sister. "I don't know how you do it."

"It helps that I love them." Andrea told her. "Five isn't that many when you think about it."

JJ raised her eyebrows sceptically. "Really? Any plans for a sixth."

"Goodness no!" Andrea exclaimed. "If mom wants more grandchildren it's all on you and Randy, I've done my dash."

"Sure, sure." JJ accepted the cup of tea from her mother. "That's what you said after the twins."

"I'm serious." Andrea told her. "There is absolutely no way that Richard and I will have another child."

"That seems a bit harsh, dear." Mom said.

JJ snickered. "I think she means it literally, mom. You know? Snip, snip."

Mom looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh."

"It's all on you, JJ." Andrea said with a grin. "I'm passing on the baton."

"Not until Tony's finished this mission." JJ pointed out.

"But then?" Andrea wiggled her eyebrows.

JJ blushed. "Yeah, Tony doesn't want to wait. He said he's already forty and doesn't want to be mistaken as our children's grandfather."

"Rubbish." Mom waved a hand dismissively. "Tony doesn't look old at all."

"That's what I keep telling him." JJ agreed.

"The kids have decided they want to call you Aunty JJ." Andrea commented after a comfortable silence. "Is that alright with you?"

JJ looked at her in surprise. "Really? And sure, I don't see why not."

"I think Tony is their new favourite relative." Andrea laughed. "You should have seen Matthew and Melanie's faces when Tony told them that they could go in his car."

JJ laughed. "Tony's car is pretty cool."

"I can't believe that boy slept in it last night." Mom huffed.

"Did I tell you about the time he slept in his car outside my place?" JJ asked.

"No, what happened?" Andrea leaned forward in interest.

"Knock, knock!" Anne's voice echoed through the house. "I come bearing breakfast for the bride. Anyone have a free hand?"

"I'll tell you over breakfast." JJ promised as she went to help her sister-in-law.

9-9-9

It was a nice treat, spending the morning have her hair and makeup done. It was particularly nice to spend the morning with her mom, Andrea and Anne – it wasn't often that they got the chance to spend time together without the men or kids around.

Her dress was amazing and she could hardly believe that her mother had managed to make it in four weeks – particularly since JJ had only been available for fittings in the last week.

When one thirty came around, the time they were due to leave for the garden where they were getting married, JJ was completely ready and there had been time to take some photos with her mother and bridesmaids – Andrea, Anne and Melanie.

"Jenny?" Andrea stuck her head through the door.

"I know, time to go. I'm ready." JJ stood up.

"Well, that too." Andrea smiled. "But I was actually going to tell you that you have a phone call." She held out JJ's phone. "It's your workmates."

JJ smiled widely and held out her hand for the phone.

"I'll give you five minutes." Andrea told her sternly as she handed over the phone. "You are not going to be one of those brides who is late to their wedding."

JJ laughed and nodded, before carefully putting the phone up to her ear. "Hi, guys."

"Hello, bride!" Garcia exclaimed. "How are you feeling?"

"Great." JJ replied. "I'm all set, hair and makeup done – we're leaving for the garden in a few minutes."

"You're getting married in a garden?" Morgan asked and JJ realised that they must have her on speakerphone.

"Actually," Reid's voice sounded. "Studies have shown that…"

"Come on, Reid." Morgan interrupted. "It's her wedding day."

"What's your dress like?" Garcia asked.

"Garcia!" Morgan said with a laugh. "You can't ask her that!"

"Of course I can." Garcia returned.

"Girls ask each other those sorts of things all the time." Emily added.

"I'll send you all a picture tonight." JJ promised.

"We should let you go." Rossi said. "But we wanted to wish you the best and give you are congratulations."

"Thank you!" JJ blinked back a few tears. "I'm sorry you guys can't be here."

"We'll be there for the amazing reception you and Tony are going to throw next year." Garcia told her. "We love you, JJ!"

"I love you guys too." JJ returned. "I'll see you guys in a week."

"Bye!"

"See ya!"

"Best wishes!"

They all called out their farewells, even Hotch whose voice JJ hadn't heard over the phone. She hung up and then made her way downstairs.

"Ready?" Mom asked, beaming at her with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah." JJ handed her phone back to Andrea. "Where's Dad?"

"I'm here." Dad came out from the kitchen wearing a black suit. "You look beautiful, Jenny."

JJ had to blink away tears again. "Thanks, Dad."

9-9-9

Tony looked around the small section of garden that he and JJ had hired for the wedding. At thirty square feet was the perfect size for the amount of people that were invited – a total of sixteen including the eight people in the bridal party, the photographer and celebrant. There were only four chairs, one for each of the twins and JJ's parents, along with a rug on the ground where the two toddlers were playing.

Tony shifted nervously and rubbed his hands on his trousers.

"Stop it." Randy ordered with a grin. "She's not even due for another five minutes.

"What if she's late?" Tony asked nervously.

"She's got Andrea with her." Richard told him with a laugh. "She won't be late. She was an entire half hour early to our wedding."

Tony laughed. "What did she do? Wait in the foyer?"

"She made Dad drive her around the block ten times." Randy answered. "And then said that anyone who couldn't be bothered being at least five minutes early didn't deserve to see her entrance."

"I come from a really laidback family." Richard added. "I can count the times on my hands that my parents have been on time to something, but thankfully they travelled to the church with me that day. I would have hated it if my parents missed the beginning of my wedding."

"They're here." Randy said suddenly and pointed to where his mom was walking towards them.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief.

"You boys ready?" Sandy asked when she was close enough.

"Yes, mom." Randy grinned. "Is Jenny?"

"She's just waiting for everyone to get into position." Sandy answered, sitting down in one of the middle chairs. "Dan, Rob! Come sit down, your Aunt Jenny is ready. Matthew, have you got the music ready?"

"Yes, Grandma." Matthew held up the portable stereo that he was holding.

"Well, give it to me and show me what button to press." Sandy told him.

It took a few minutes for everyone to get sorted, but eventually the music was playing and Melanie was walking down the aisle. After her came Anne and then Andrea and finally JJ with her dad.

Tony thought his cheeks would probably start hurting soon, with how widely he was smiling, but JJ looked amazing! Her dress was white and floor length, but it left her shoulders bare.

JJ smiled at him as she made her way up the aisle and if she hadn't been walking with her dad, Tony would have abandoned the idea of waiting for her and instead met her halfway.

Instead, Tony watched as she made her way down to him, before embracing her and then shaking her dad's hand. JJ kissed her father's cheek and then hugged her mother before taking her place beside Tony.

They had told the celebrant that that they didn't want a long service – they didn't want to put on a production. The celebrant said a few words and prompted them to give their vows.

JJ's vows induced Tony to tears and he decided that he would have it framed and hang it somewhere in their house. When JJ cried during his vows, Tony decided that they would have to frame both vows.

When the celebrant declared them 'Mr. and Mrs. Agent Doctor Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo', Tony laughed and shot an accusing grin at JJ.

After the ceremony came the photos, they did the ones with the kids first and then let them play in the garden while the other photos were taken, and then they all went back to JJ's parents place to get changed and have dinner.

Tony and JJ made their way up to JJ's bedroom and stared at each other.

"We did it." Tony stepped forward and drew her into a hug.

"We did." JJ agreed, lifting up her face and kissing him. "I'm Mrs. Agent Doctor Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo."

They hugged for another couple of minutes, before Tony helped JJ unzip her dress.

"You know what's great?" JJ asked as she laid it gently on the bed.

"What?" Tony shrugged off his jacket and laid it beside JJ's dress.

"I remember after Andrea's wedding she complained that she'd never get to wear her dress again." JJ told him, slipping out of her petticoat. "You go through all that money and effort to pick the perfect dress and then never wear it again. But I do get to wear it again. I get to wear it to our reception next year."

"Good point." Tony nodded. "My suit is much more reusable that your dress."

"You guys have is so easy." JJ teased as she pulled on a pair of trousers and a blouse.

"I'll say." Tony shuddered. "We don't have to spend the morning being tortured with hairbrushes and makeup."

JJ laughed. "It was very nice actually. I hardly ever get the opportunity to be pampered like that."

Tony pulled on a pair of jeans and shirt and offered her his arm. "Are you ready, Mrs. Dinozzo?"

"That's Mrs. Agent Doctor Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo to you!" JJ told him with a grin before accepting his arm.

Tony rolled his eyes.


	10. Agent Afloat

**Set four months after 'The Big Day' (two years after they met).**

Tony's head was spinning as he got into his car. Why would Vance suddenly decide to split up Gibbs' team now? It just didn't make sense, not unless the man had a hidden agenda.

Tony sighed turned his key in the ignition. He was supposed to be collating evidence to prove that Vance was corrupt, but there hadn't been any red flags up until now – he wasn't convinced that the man was corrupt after all. But this was definitely a red flag. Vance had to have a reason for splitting up the team and Tony needed to find out whether or not it was legitimate or not. Which would be hard to do if he was assigned to the USS Reagan.

But surely Colonel Lucten and Admiral Pike, his handlers, weren't going let him be reassigned to a post that would handicap is ability to do his job? They had promised him that he only had ten months left undercover, what use would he be assigned to a Navy carrier in the middle of the ocean?

Tony pulled out of the Navy Yard and turned his car towards home, plotting his route to ensure that he could stop at a payphone – he needed to talk to Lucten and Pike.

"Lucten." The Navy Colonel answered with a snap.

"It's Dinozzo, sir." Tony identified himself.

Lucten made a guilty sound. "I presume you just met with Vance?"

"Yes, sir." Tony frowned. If Lucten had known it was coming why hadn't he bothered giving Tony a heads up?

"Sorry, Dinozzo," Lucten's tone was regretful. "The reassignment stands."

"I only have ten months left until you pull me out, sir." Tony reminded his handler. "Surely there are better uses of my time. My hands will be tied on the Reagan."

"Secretary Davenport has authorised an extension to your time undercover to make up for the time you'll spend as Agent Afloat." Lucten told him.

Tony stared at the phone in shock for a few seconds before putting it back to his ear. "Excuse me, sir?"

"You heard me, Colonel." Lucten snapped. "I'm not happier about this than you are."

Tony had no idea what to say. He'd been undercover for eight years! The only things keeping him sane were JJ and the knowledge that he was almost done and now they were extending it?

"Any idea why Vance is splitting up the team, sir?" Tony asked eventually.

"None." Lucten told him. "It doesn't look good though."

"No, sir." Tony agreed.

After his phone call with Lucten, Tony rang Pike. Things had been so much simpler when he'd only had one mission and one handler.

"Admiral Pike."

"Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo speaking, sir."

"Dinozzo?" Pike sounded surprised. "How can I help you, colonel?"

"I just received my new orders, sir." Tony replied. "I wanted to confirm them with you."

Pike was silent for a few seconds. "What new orders?"

"I'm being reassigned as Agent Afloat on the USS Reagan, sir." Tony answered. "I fly out tomorrow."

"What?" Pike barked. "Hold on a minute, Colonel."

"Yes, sir." Tony leant against the wall of the phone booth with a sigh. Would Pike interfere with the order? God, he hoped so. He couldn't even comprehend having to go home and tell JJ that not only was he going to be stationed on ship for an unknown amount of time, but that his time undercover had been extended.

"You there, Dinozzo?" Pike's voice came through the phone a few minutes later.

"Yes, sir."

"There's nothing I can do, Dinozzo." Pike told him. "Not immediately anyway, it would draw attention that we don't want. I'm sorry, son."

Tony sighed heavily. "Yes, sir."

"It seems like such a damn waste of resources." Pike grumbled. "Has Lucten told you why he and Davenport are allowing this?"

Tony grimaced. "They're extending my time at NCIS, sir, to make up for the time I spent as agent afloat."

"Bullshit." Pike snapped. "The Secretary of Defence wants you out of there in ten months and the President agrees. If they want to waste your time playing detective on a carrier, that's their problem."

Tony exhaled in relief. "Thank you, sir."

10-10-10

JJ car was already in the drive when Tony parked his car on the street and he took a moment to try and gather his thoughts. JJ was going to be upset when she heard the news and Tony didn't want his own emotions to make it worse.

He made his way up the drive and into the house, before bending over to untie his shoes.

"Tony?" JJ called from the direction of their lounge and kitchen.

"Yeah." Tony grimaced when he heard his voice, so much for being an expert at undercover work – he sounded awful.

There was a clanging noise and a few seconds later JJ was standing in the hall. "What's wrong?"

Tony slipped off his shoes before moving forward and embracing her.

"Tony?" JJ hugged him tightly. "What happened?"

Tony held onto her for a few more seconds before stepping back. "We should sit down in the lounge."

JJ frowned worriedly as she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the lounge.

Once they were seated beside each other on the couch, Tony ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"Tony?" JJ asked again.

"I got new orders today." Tony started. "Orders from NCIS, rather than Lucten or Pike."

JJ squeezed his hand when he didn't continue. "And?"

"I've been assigned aboard the USS Reagan." Tony admitted. "As their agent afloat."

JJ's expression was shocked. "What? For how long?"

"I don't know." Tony let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her. "I rang Lucten and Pike on the way home and they both say that I have to go through with it. Lucten tried to tell me that my time undercover would be extended because of it, but Pike said that's rubbish."

JJ closed her eyes for a few seconds. "That's good. So they can't send you away for more than ten months then."

"No." Tony agreed. "I'm hoping it's only for a month or two, I still haven't found what I need to pin something of Davenport."

"You said you were getting close." JJ commented, snuggling against his side.

"I am." Tony affirmed. "I know that he's using Operation Frankenstein to order unsanctioned hits – he's been using the marines to kill anyone he deems a threat to national security – I just can't prove it to a jury. I need more time."

"Will you be able to do anything when you're away?" JJ asked.

"No," Tony sighed. "All transmissions will be monitored. I won't even be able to contact you."

"Not at all?" JJ's lips thinned as they always did when she was upset.

"I'll send you postcards when we're at port." Tony promised solemnly.

JJ's eyes filled with tears. "And you don't know for how long?"

"No." Tony leant over and embraced her fully.

JJ cried into his jacket for a while, before leaning back and wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow." Tony answered, feeling awful when fresh tears rolled down JJ's cheeks. "I have to be at the Navy Yard at eight hundred hours."

JJ wiped away her tears again and tried to smile. "So what do you want to do tonight?"

Tony leant forward and hugged her again. "You're amazing."

"I'm a navy wife." JJ told him, her head leaning against his shoulder. "I knew this would happen sooner or later. I just presumed it would be later."

"Me too." Tony agreed. "Did you have plans for dinner?"

"I was making lasagne when you came home." JJ told him. "Do you want something special?"

Tony let her go and stood up. "Lasagne sounds perfect. Anything I can do to help?"

10-10-10

It was few hours later, when they were snuggled up on the couch talking, that Tony's 'NCIS' phone rang loudly.

Tony considered ignoring, but eventually dug it out of his pocket and looked to see who was calling.

"It's Abby." He told JJ, before answering the call. "Hey, Abby."

"Tony!" Abby exclaimed. "Where are you? Gibbs said that Vance is sending you away, like, away away. Though not as far away as Ziva, but then Ziva doesn't have to leave for a week. You're leaving in the morning!"

Tony sighed tiredly. "Yeah."

"And you didn't come down and say goodbye!" Abby whined. "Tim said that you said goodbye to them, why didn't you come and say goodbye to me?"

"Sorry, Abby." Tony winced, that mistake in his cover went to show how much Vance's announcement had thrown him. "I just had a lot on my mind."

"I can't believe Vance is sending you to a boat!" Abby ranted. "Doesn't he know you at all? You are definitely not a boat person. Now Gibbs, Gibbs I could see on a boat."

"I don't think he cares." Tony commented.

Abby made an uncomplimentary noise. "Anyway, I came over to see you! You know, to say goodbye. But you're not here!"

Tony grimaced and shared a look with JJ, he was glad they had taken the time to plan for this scenario.

"I'm on a date." He told her. "I'm about to be dropped off on a boat in the middle of the ocean. This might be my last chance to spend some time with a beautiful woman in months!"

"Seriously, Tony?" Abby sounded as though she was frowning.

"Tony?" JJ asked in a high voice. "You won't be on the phone long will you?"

"I've got to go, Abs." Tony said, his tone regretful.

"But I haven't given you a goodbye hug!" Abby protested.

"I'll meet you outside NCIS at seven thirty." Tony promised. "You can give me a goodbye hug then."

"Okay." Abby's voice brightened. "See you then."

"Bye." Tony hung up the phone and grinned at JJ. "Good job with the voice there, Marilyn."

"Marilyn?" JJ asked incredulously. "That's the name you came up with this month? Isn't that name a bit too sensible for you? Or have you run out of names like Candy?"

"Don't knock Candy." Tony joked. "She was your cover for a whole six days. You ought to be thankful."

JJ rolled her eyes. "It was nice of Abby to ring."

"Yeah." Tony leant back against the couch and sighed. "I think she's the only one who I really regret having lied to. She's going to be so hurt."

"Eight years is a long time to pretend to be someone's friend." JJ agreed.

"I've only been at NCIS for seven years." Tony corrected. "But it will be eight years by the time I'm done."

"Is there anything in your report that will get her in trouble?"

"I doubt it." Tony shook his head. "But that doesn't mean she won't feel betrayed."

JJ leant her head on his shoulder. "Sounds hard. Will you miss her?"

"No." Tony answered. "She drives me mad, but I don't like the idea of hurting her."

"You're a good man, Tony." JJ told him before kissing him.

Tony tugged her closer. "You remember what I said to Abby? About how this might be my last opportunity to spend some quality time with a beautiful woman in months?"

JJ laughed lightly. "Somehow I don't think quality time is exactly what you're angling for right now. Bedroom?"

10-10-10

JJ ended up driving Tony into the Navy Yard the next morning – desperate to spend as much time with him as possible before he left. Although she made sure to drop him off a block away so that nobody would see him with her.

There wasn't much time for goodbyes, not with the traffic surrounding them, but Tony took the moment to lean in and kiss her gently.

"I love you."

"I love you too." JJ told him, her cheeks already wet. "Be safe."

"I will." Tony promised, reaching down to grab his bag. "I will see you when I get back."

"Damn right you will." JJ told him with a weak smile.

Tony kissed her again and then, when a car behind them beeped loudly, got out of the car and watched from the sidewalk as JJ drove away.

He watched silently until her car turned the corner, and then began walking towards the Navy Yard with a heavy heart.

He'd always thought that married marines were overdramatic when leaving for a mission, but now he understood. It wasn't hard to be shipped away when you weren't leaving anyone behind, but the thought of spending the next few months without JJ was gut-wrenching.

Abby was already waiting for him outside the Navy Yard, along with Ducky, Palmer and the rest of the team.

Tony groaned quietly, he hated it when the team did thing like this – it always made him feel guilty about all the lies he had to tell. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to focus, he needed to be in character.

"Tony!" Abby squealed when she spotted him and ran towards him in her ridiculously tall platform shoes.

"Hey, Abby." Tony caught her in a hug and spun her around.

"You're not wearing a suit." Abby commented as she let him go and grabbed hold of his arm, walking with him towards where the others were standing.

"I doubt there's any dry cleaning on the USS Reagan." Tony told her with a grin. "So I left all my poor suits at home."

"So you're keeping your apartment?" Abby asked.

"Definitely." Tony said as they reached the group. "This isn't forever, I'm coming back."

"Of course you are!" Abby exclaimed loudly. "Right, Gibbs? You're going to get them all back!"

"I'll do my best, Abs." Gibbs promised.

They all stood around awkwardly for a few seconds before Tony decided it was time to get things going.

"Be good without me, kids." He grinned. "You in particular, probie. I can't believe that Vance thinks putting you in charge of a basement full of geeks is a good idea!"

McGee made a face at him.

"Well, I better go." Tony said brightly after another awkward silence. "See you around."

Abby hugged him tightly. "I don't want you to go."

"Sorry, Abs." Tony hugged her back before prying her arms off him. "Duty calls."

10-10-10

JJ's tears had stopped by the time she parked her car in the FBI carpark. She looked at her reflection in her rear vision mirror and winced at the sight of the tear tracks on her cheeks and her puffy eyes.

She stopped into bathroom on her way up to her office to give her a chance to wash her face. It took a few paper towels, wet with cold water, but eventually the puffiness around her eyes decreased. She doubted it would be enough to fool her team, but at least the evidence of her tears was no longer obvious.

None of the team had arrived yet, so she was able to make it to her office unaccosted before sitting down at her chair and rubbing her face with her hands trying to hold back another flood of tears. It was strange to be feeling so emotional at work – especially since she'd never been the kind of woman who cried at the drop of a hat. Well, she hadn't been before she met Tony at least – she seemed to cry a lot more these days.

Blinking away the tears, JJ started up her computer and then began her morning routine of checking her emails. It was never a pleasant task, there were always multiple emails from desperate law enforcement wanting help with awful crimes and it was her job to decide which of them were priorities.

Once she'd finished going through her emails she stood up and made her way to their kitchenette for a cup of coffee. She wasn't surprised to find Derek, Spencer and Emily already there, she was pretty sure that the three of them spent just as much time there as they did behind their desks.

"Morning, JJ." Spencer greeted her with smile, before sipping his coffee.

"Morning." JJ tried to smile.

Emily and Derek's eyes both narrowed in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Do we have a case?" Derek asked.

JJ shook her head and mentally groaned when her eyes started to well up again.

Emily handed her mug to Derek and came forward to hug her.

"JJ?" Spencer asked, his tone both confused and concerned.

"Tony's been shipped out." She admitted, returning Emily's hug. "He got the news last night and left this morning."

"That's quick." Derek commented.

Emily released her and stepped back, her expression sympathetic. "How long will he be gone?"

JJ pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes to try and force back the tears. "I don't know! I know he'll definitely be back in ten months, but he could be back in one month. They haven't told him."

Spencer looked surprised. "Is that normal?"

"I don't know." JJ admitted, wiping her cheeks with her hands. "This is the first time he's been shipped away since we met."

Emily made a sympathetic noise and wrapped an arm around JJ's waist.

"Here." Derek handed her a cup of coffee with a smile. "Milk and one sugar, just how you like it."

JJ smiled wetly. "Thanks."

10-10-10

It took Tony less than a week to decide that he absolutely hated being agent afloat

He worked alone, exercised alone, ate alone and spent his downtime alone. The only people who voluntarily spoke to him were either reporting a crime or had committed a crime and were overcompensating for their guilt. He was the only law enforcement officer on a ship of over three thousand sailors and it was blatantly obvious that they didn't trust him. It was lonely and disappointing, particularly when he considered the amount of time he had spent dreaming of being surrounded by US armed forces again.

Their disrespect of him rankled too. Sure he was used to being disrespected as an NCIS Agent, but it was a lot harder to deal with now that he was stuck with the disrespectful enlisted personnel twenty four seven. Some days he would sit in his office and dream of a day when he could come back to the ship in uniform, his silver oak leaf pins clearly visible for them to see. Oh, how he wanted to make them stand at attention for hours.

Not only that, but he was bored out of his mind – he felt like a nanny, or worse a private detective. He spent his time mediating spats between sailors, sniffing around for drugs, breaking up gambling rings, investigating instances of petty theft. Any spare time he had, he going over the information he had collected on SecNav and Vance in his mind and trying find a new angle that he could approach it at when he got back. By the time he'd been on the USS Reagan a week he had come up with multiple new plans for his investigations and he was itching to get back and implement them.

The worst part was missing JJ though. He missed her smile, her laugh, her cooking, her hugs, her conversation and, well, sex.

For the first time in his life he found himself considering other career choices. He loved being a marine, and had worked hard to get to get to his position, but if it meant having to spend months away from JJ every year – well he was sure there were other jobs that he would enjoy just as much.


	11. Big News

**Set one month after 'Agent Afloat' (two years and one month after they met).**

The hardest part of Tony's absence was the radio silence. JJ knew why he couldn't contact her, they couldn't risk the wrong people finding out about their relationship, but it didn't make it any easier. The only sign of life that she had received was a postcard that had arrived three weeks after he had left and JJ had handled it so many times that it had become dog-eared.

JJ hadn't allowed herself to cry since the day Tony had left to become agent afloat, not even the day that the postcard arrived. She refused to be one of those women who spent their evenings in tears just because their husbands were away. The day her older sister had committed suicide, JJ had sworn that she wouldn't allow her emotions to rule her – a promise that she continued to try and keep. Sure she missed Tony, but there just wasn't any point dwelling on it. Crying wouldn't make her feel any better.

Instead, with the help of her team's full case load, JJ kept herself busy. When she wasn't travelling halfway across the country to investigate unsubs she was travelling to North Versailles to visit her parents on her days off or renovating her garden. It wasn't the best time of year to be digging up plants and planting new ones, but it was a distraction.

Her self-distraction worked perfectly well for a month, until she woke up one Monday morning nauseous. She tried to ignore it, but when she vomited her breakfast into one of her rosebushes on her way to her car she gave in and called in sick. The nausea disappeared within a few hours and when JJ received a call to say that the team were flying out to Indiana to investigate a serial arsonist she met them at the airport. There was no point in laying around at home if she felt perfectly fine.

When she woke up the next morning and promptly emptied her stomach contents into the hotel toilet, JJ couldn't help but cry. She hated being sick when they were on a case, being sick in a random hotel when her team was running around trying to catch a serial killer was not her idea of a good time. Not only did she feel gross and sick, but she was also tired, so very very tired, and she missed Tony!

She spent a couple of minutes sobbing on the bathroom floor and then pulled herself together and turned the shower on. Hopefully the nausea would disappear by mid-morning again and if not, at least she'd feel clean. When she got out of the shower she was already feeling a little better so she joined the team for breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

The sight of Morgan's scrambled eggs was almost enough to make her vomit again, but she forced her nausea down and nibbled on some dry toast.

"Are you alright?" Emily looked concerned. "You look a little peaky."

"Peaky?" JJ smiled in amusement. "What kind of word is that?"

"It originated in the nineteenth century." Reid answered seriously. "It is a derivative of the word peak which can mean to decline in health and spirits or waste away."

"Thanks, Reid." Emily grinned. "Don't you think that JJ looks as though she is declining in health?"

Reid tilted his head to the side as he stared at JJ before nodding. "You do look a bit pale."

"I'm fine." JJ assured them. "I'm just feeling a bit nauseous." She watched suspiciously as Emily and Morgan exchanged a look. "What?"

"Nothing." Emily widened her eyes innocently. "We hope you feel better soon."

Morgan just smirked at her.

The nausea disappeared within an hour of breakfast and JJ was able to get on with her job, a fact that she was very thankful for. It was hard enough when unsubs were killing one person a time let alone when they were killing whole buildings of people.

When her nausea returned the next morning JJ wanted to scream and the amused looks that Emily and Morgan gave her over breakfast didn't help. The nausea disappeared by midmorning again, but JJ couldn't help but feel immense relief when they caught the unsub that night. She wasn't sure what she was more relieved about: the fact that Tommy wouldn't be setting any more fires or that she only had one more night before she would be sleeping in her own bed.

She wasn't surprised when she woke up with nausea the next morning and as she knelt on the bathroom floor, vomiting into the toilet, she tried to figure out what could be causing it. It obviously wasn't food poisoning or a stomach bug, which left more serious illness and…

Suddenly JJ realised what Morgan and Emily had been smirking about. How could she have missed it? She was feeling nauseous in the morning, she had morning sickness. Was she pregnant?

Once her stomach had finished rejecting everything she had eaten the night before, JJ brushed her teeth and then got in the shower. Their plane wasn't leaving until ten and Hotch had told them that they could sleep in if they wanted – she had plenty of time to buy a pregnancy test.

The convenience store was only a few minutes away and JJ tried to ignore the amused look that the teenaged clerk gave her as she rang up the two tests. She walked back briskly and managed to make it back to her room without being seen by any of her team.

The instructions said that it would take five minutes for the pregnancy tests to show a result, so, after having peed on the sticks, JJ began packing her bag. She felt so anxious, what if it was a yes? She and Tony had talked about children – of course they had – but they had both agreed that the best plan was to wait until Tony's assignment at NCIS was finished. But at the same time, the idea of being pregnant thrilled her. What if it was a no? She hadn't realised how much she longed to be a mother until the idea that she might be pregnant had crossed her mind.

She finished packing in record time and moaned in frustration when she realised that she still had another minute to wait. So she stripped the bedding of her bed to help the cleaning service.

Finally the five minutes was up and JJ picked up the tests and looked at them. At the sight of two lines she burst into tears. She wanted Tony! He should be here for this. He should be sitting on the bed beside her and holding her hand. Hugging her with excitement and exclaiming that he was going to be a father. Instead he was somewhere in the middle of the ocean on a boat and she had no way of contacting him and telling him the good news. She didn't even know when he would be back. Sure she knew he would definitely be back after ten months, but that was a long time – particularly in terms of pregnancy. What if he was gone for so long that he missed the entire pregnancy?

She sobbed for a few minutes, missing Tony with all her heart, before eventually her tears dried out. It was strange to feel so sad and so happy at the same time. She was going to have a baby! A gorgeous little baby. She was going to be a mommy!

JJ wondered what the etiquette for telling people was in this situation. Normally she wouldn't have even considered anyone before Tony, but Tony was away. She wouldn't tell her team straight away, particularly not after Emily and Morgan's amused smirks, but maybe she could ring her mom. Or better yet, drive up and visit her parents on her next days off. First though, she should probably see a doctor so that she could at least tell her mother when to expect her next grandchild.

11-11-11

JJ was relieved when she was able to get an appointment to see a doctor after work the next day. The appointment was shorter than she had expected, and after some questions and a few tests the doctor confirmed that she was pregnant and told her that her due date was in December.

After doing the maths, JJ winced. That meant that she had conceived around the same time as her and Tony's wedding. Her brother would never let her live it down.

She drove straight from the doctors to her parents' house and arrived at about nine thirty – exhausted and starving. She had never been so glad that her parents weren't the kind of people who went to bed at eight thirty or nine.

"Jenny?" Dad asked in surprise when he opened the door.

"Surprise!" JJ grinned at him and stepped forward to kiss his cheek. "Sorry, I meant to text you guys, but I've had a lot on my mind."

Dad embraced her tightly, before taking her bag and ushering her in. "Come in. Your mom is in the lounge."

Mom was just as surprised to see her as Dad had been and dropped her book on the floor when she stood up to pull JJ into a hug.

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Mom admonished. "Are you hungry? Of course you are, you just drove four hours. What do you feel like? There's some chicken left over from dinner if you'd like it?"

JJ hugged her mom tightly and forced back the tears that threatened to spill over. "Chicken sounds great, mom. I can heat it up though. You go back to your book."

When she had heated up some leftovers, JJ carried them into the lounge and ate as she listened as her mom filled her in on the latest family gossip. Apparently her sixteen year old nephew, Matthew, had his first girlfriend.

After she had finished her dinner, JJ swallowed nervously and waited for her mom to finish her latest story.

"I, uh, have something to tell you guys." She told them.

Dad put down the book he had been reading and gave her a worried look. "Nothing bad, I hope."

"No," JJ said quickly. "I'm pregnant."

Mom beamed with excitement. "Oh how wonderful! Did you hear that, Paul? We're going to have another grandchild."

"Congratulations." Dad said, coming over to hug her.

"When are you due?" Mom asked quickly.

"December." JJ replied as she returned her Dad's embrace.

Mom looked delightful. "A Christmas baby! We haven't had one of those yet. So you're in your second trimester then?"

"Yes." JJ sat down again when her dad released her. "I only just realised this week. Don't most women know after a month or something?"

"Every woman is different." Mom reassured her. "Some woman don't find out they're pregnant until they're in labour."

"Really?" JJ raised her eyebrows sceptically.

"How have you been?" Dad asked.

"Good, until this week at least." JJ answered him. "I've had morning sickness since Monday. It's always gone by mid-morning though, so it's not so bad."

"I remember when your mom was pregnant with Andrea," Dad smiled. "It felt as though she spent the entire nine months chucking. It was so bad that she swore never to do it again."

JJ had heard the story before and grinned. "Good thing Rosaline was a surprise then, otherwise you might not have had me or Randy."

"I just couldn't believe the difference." Mom said. "I didn't know I was pregnant with Rosaline until I was sixteen weeks along, it was just that different."

"Have you been able to get word to Tony?" Dad asked.

JJ shook her head. "No, and I won't be able to. I just hope he comes home soon. I don't want him to miss the entire thing."

Mom came over and gave her a hug. "I hope he does too. But even if he doesn't, he won't be missing the whole thing. He'll still be able to be there when your child is growing up."

"I know." JJ sighed into her mom's shoulder. "I just miss him."

"I know you do, sweetheart." Mom told her. "I know you do."

11-11-11

"Hotch?" JJ knocked on the door to his office.

"Come in." Hotch's voice called and JJ pushed the door open before stepping in.

"Do you have a minute?" JJ asked.

Hotch's mouth curved into one of his almost smiles as he gestured towards one of the seats. "This seems familiar."

JJ smiled in amusement and sit down, laying the folder she was holding on her lap. "Yes, I suppose it does."

"How can I help you, JJ?" Hotch asked kindly.

"I'm pregnant." She told him softly. "I thought you would want to know."

Hotch didn't look surprised as he smiled. "Congratulations."

JJ narrowed her eyes. "You already knew didn't you?"

"I suspected." Hotch admitted. "Haley had morning sickness when she was pregnant with Jack."

"Oh." JJ nodded. "I'm about fourteen weeks along."

"Thank you for telling me." Hotch said. "Are you still having morning sickness?"

JJ sighed. "Yes, every morning, but it's nothing I can't work through."

"I'm glad." Hotch gave her an almost smile. "Do you plan to tell the team?"

"Yes," JJ answered as she stood up and handed them the file. "I'll tell them in the briefing."

"We have a case?" Hotch asked quickly opening the file.

"Sorry for not telling you first." JJ said.

"It's fine." Hotch reassured her, not looking up from the file.

Ten minutes later the most of the team was assembled around the table in the briefing room and JJ was standing in front of the screen.

"Where's Emily?" Morgan asked looking around.

"Here." Emily answered as she entered and sat down beside Reid. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's fine." Hotch told her, before turning his attention to JJ. "JJ?"

"We have a new case." JJ told them. "But first, there's something I need to tell you."

"You're pregnant." Emily said with an excited smile.

"Yes." JJ rolled her eyes fondly at Emily's triumphant grin

Reid looked stunned. "Wow, congratulations, JJ!"

Emily stood up and moved to hug her. "Yes, congratulations."

11-11-11

'" _Oh, Charles!" Susanne cried. "How brave you are! Are you hurt?"_

 _Charles stood proudly, surrounded by the bodies of his enemies. "Never, darling."_

 _BOOM!_

 _An explosion rocked a building near them and Susanne let out a loud scream and threw herself at Charles, her curves pressed up against his body…'_

Tony put down his book with a grimace. It was an awful trashy book that contained not much more than women, explosions and bad grammar. He'd read some pretty terrible books during the three months he'd been the agent afloat on the USS Reagan, but this one was just too bad for him to handle. Staring at the ceiling would be a more enjoyable use of his time. Thankfully he was going home!

A knock at the door of his office, jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Come in."

A young sailor stood in the doorway. "Agent Dinozzo? Captain sent me. We're docked."

"Really?" Tony grinned at him and stood quickly, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"Yeah." The sailor rolled his eyes and Tony had to prevent himself from snarling at the disrespectful boy.

It wasn't the kid's fault, he was just following the lead of everyone else on the damn ship and Tony knew that his 'Very Special Agent Dinozzo' persona hadn't exactly helped him earn their respect.

Tony picked up the book and handed it to the sailor. "Give this to Petty Officer Richards."

"Yes, sir." The sailor frowned at the book.

Tony ushered the boy out of his office and then shut the door behind him. "See ya, sailor."

None of his NCIS team were waiting for him on the docks, which was a relief to Tony. He didn't want to have to pretend to have missed them today – he wanted to see JJ! Unfortunately for him his handler, Colonel Lucten, had different ideas.

Tony was only metres away from the taxi stand when a man bowled him over.

"Colonel Lucten sent me." The man whispered as they struggled to get up. "He said to tell you that aubergine is a kind of nightshade."

Tony clenched a hand into a fist at the code phrase. He hadn't seen his wife in three months and they wanted to talk to him now?

"And that you should take taxi number seventy four." The man continued before picking himself up and walking away.

Tony glared at the man's back as he stood up. He looked at all the taxis and eventually found one with seventy four written on its side.

"Can I help you with your bag, sir?" The driver asked politely.

"It's fine." Tony told him as he got into the back of the cab and placed his bag beside him.

The drive was only about ten minutes, but it was long enough for Tony to get his frustration under control. He should have expected this and it wasn't an unreasonably request. Of course they would want to check on him after three months without contact. Besides, JJ would probably be at work by now anyway – no point rushing home if nobody was there.

11-11-11

Tony's meeting with Lucten was an hour long and mostly involved the Colonel updating him on everything that happened at NCIS in the last few months. Some of it Tony already knew from few his conversations with Gibbs, but it was always good to hear information from multiple sources.

After the meeting Tony caught a cab to a florists and then wandered around for a few minutes looking for a phone booth. He found one a few blocks away from the florists and dialled his second handler's number. It was the problem with having two handlers, twice as many conversations. Thankfully this conversation was shorter, and Tony didn't have to repeat much – mostly he just told Pike what he needed done. Tony had had three months of time to figure out exactly how he was going to get incriminating information on Sec Nav Davenport.

Twenty minutes later, Tony hung up the phone and made his way back to the florists to buy JJ some flowers. He couldn't wait to see her!

The house was dark when the cab dropped Tony off and his heart fell. He hadn't considered that JJ might be away on a case.

He knocked on the door just in case she was home and then let himself in. It was a bittersweet feeling: there was something amazing about being home, but JJ's absence was almost devastating.

Tony dropped his bag in their bedroom and then made his way to the lounge to get the phone. Then he dialled JJ's number.

JJ answered after the third ring. "Tony?"

"JJ!" Tony couldn't help but beam at the sound of her voice.

"Tony!" JJ's breath hitched and then Tony could hear her crying. "You're home!"

"What's the matter?" Tony asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." JJ sobbed. "I'm just so glad that you're home."

"Is your team away on a case?" Tony asked softly.

"No," JJ replied. "I'm at mom and dad's."

Tony looked at the clock. "If I leave now, I could be there by ten."

"No, I'll come home." JJ told him quickly. "I want you all to myself."

"Okay." Tony agreed. "I can't wait to see you!"

"I love you, Tony!"

"I love you too!"

11-11-11

It was strange how much loving someone changed your life. Tony had once spent ten hours hiding in a bush and the four hours it took JJ to drive back from North Versailles were the absolute longest hours of Tony's life.

It did give him time to clean up though. He unpacked his bag, put on a wash, showered, shaved, put on clean clothes, put the flowers in a vase, hung out the wash, began making JJ's favourite dessert, rhubarb shortcake, finished the dessert, lit some candles, and JJ still wasn't home.

When he finally heard her car pull up, he barely constrained himself from dancing in excitement. He ran for the front door, pulled it open and froze.

JJ was pregnant?

"Hey." JJ beamed at him and all but threw herself into his arms.

Tony couldn't help but be amused as he remembered the trashy book he had been reading, because he could definitely feel JJ's curves pressed against his body – or rather one specific curve on her stomach. It wasn't large, but it was definitely noticeable with the tight t-shirt that she was wearing.

"You're p-pregnant?" He stuttered in shock.

JJ laughed lightly. "Yeah. Five months last week."

"You're pregnant." Tony repeated.

"Come on, sailor." JJ laughed again as she stepped out of his arms. "Let's go inside and I can tell you all about it."

She grabbed one of his hands and led him back into the house. "Mmm, something smells nice."

"I made rhubarb shortcake." Tony told her absently.

"Really?" JJ sounded delighted. "I missed you so much, Tony!"

"I missed you too!" Tony pulled her back into his arms. "So much!"

"I need to use the bathroom." JJ told him after they had hugged for a few minutes. "Why don't you get that shortcake and we can eat it while we talk."

"Okay." Tony watched her go and then ducked into the kitchen and served two plates of the dessert. He put the kettle on and then carried the plates to the lounge and set them on the coffee table. Before settling on the couch.

JJ came back a minute later and sat sideways on his lap, her legs stretched out on the couch.

"You got heavy." Tony joked.

JJ rolled her eyes. "Let me give you some advice, Tony. Weight jokes don't tend to go down well with pregnant women."

"Right, sorry." Tony apologised before kissing her gently. "You're so beautiful."

JJ laughed. "Suck up."

"What?" Tony shook his head. "No, I mean it. You're stunning."

JJ kissed him and then reached forward and grabbed the two dessert plates. "This smells amazing. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Tony took one of the bowls from her and watched her eat her first spoonful, enjoying the look of enjoyment on her face.

"So," JJ said. "I'm pregnant – surprise!"

Tony couldn't help but beam. "I'm going to be a dad."

JJ's eyes filled with tears and she let out a sob.

"What's the matter?" Tony asked in concern. "What did I say?"

"You can't imagine how much I've been looking forward to hearing you say that." JJ told him through her tears. "When I found out I was pregnant I cried for at least five minutes because I wanted you to be there. I'd always imagined that you'd be there when I took the test and that we'd celebrate together and that you'd say, 'I'm going to be a dad', and now you're here, and you're saying all the right things."

Tony placed his plate of desert on the couch beside them, before hugging JJ close. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"It's not your fault." JJ mumbled into his shoulder. "Besides, you're here now."

"And I'm not going anywhere." Tony promised.

"I'm so glad you're home." JJ told him lifting her head from his shoulder to look at him. "How was it?"

"Horrible." Tony admitted. "It was boring, and lonely, and I really missed you."

"Do you have to go to work tomorrow?" JJ asked.

Tony groaned. "Yeah, sorry."

JJ pouted. "You'd think they'd give you a day to settle back in."

"You'd think." Tony agreed. "But enough about that. Do you know the gender?"

"No," JJ told him. "I didn't know whether you wanted to know or not, so I asked the doctor not to tell me. He said that he can let me know by phone if we change out mind."

"Oh," Tony thought about that. "Do you want to know?"

"Sort of." JJ shrugged. "I do want to know, but at the same time I think it would be nice if it was surprise. What about you?"

"I like surprises." Tony answered.

"Then we'll wait." JJ decided.

"Okay." Tony lifted a hand so it was hovering over her stomach. "Can I…?"

"Of course!" JJ said quickly, shifting so that her stomach was more easily accessible.

Tony stared at her stomach for a few more seconds, and then cautiously lowered it to touch her stomach. He spread his fingers out over her stomach and imagined the baby that was growing beneath them. It was amazing – he was going to be a father! He and JJ were going to have a baby!

"It's softer than I thought it would be." He whispered, his eyes trained on his hand.

"Yeah." JJ answered. "The doctor says that it's nothing to worry about."

"We're going to have a baby." Tony whispered again, tears coming to his eyes.

JJ reached out a hand a placed it on top of his hand. "Yeah. Amazing, right?"

11-11-11

Leaving for work the next morning was horrible. He didn't want to go: he didn't care about Vance's possible corruption, about SecNav using marine assassins to order unsanctioned hits, he just wanted to stay at home with JJ and their growing baby, which apparently JJ had been calling Twinkle Toes for some reason.

But he was a good marine and so at eight hundred hours exactly, Tony walked out of the elevator and into the NCIS bullpen which was, sadly, still a disgusting orange colour. Apparently it was supposed to be cheery or something similarly ridiculous.

"Tony!" Abby squealed happily from where she had been leaning against his desk. "You're back! Gibbs said you were coming back, but I didn't let myself believe it, not until I could see you in front of me, and here you are!"

"Here I am." Tony agreed catching Abby when she threw herself at him. "Probie, good to see you."

McGee grimaced at the nicknamed, but came forward and offered Tony his hand. "Welcome back, Tony."

Tony shook his hand and then turned to Ziva who was sitting behind her desk. "Glad to see you made it out of Israel alive, Ziva."

Ziva smiled at him and nodded. "I am also glad to see that you have returned safely."

Tony spotted Gibbs standing nearby, almost out of sight, and sat down at his desk before asking the expected question.

"Where's Gibbs?"

"Right here, Dinozzo." Gibbs growled at him as he came out from his hiding place and slapped the back of his head.

"Ow!" Tony rubbed the back of his head with a pout.

"Getting soft, Dinozzo?" Gibbs growled at him as he sat behind his desk.

Tony ignored the question. "Aren't you glad to see me, boss?"

Gibbs just grimaced.

Tony's grin widened. "I knew you missed me!"

The team didn't have an active case, which meant cold cases and paperwork and boredom! On the bright side it did give him the opportunity to annoy the snot out of his colleagues – at times he felt guilty for the amount of enjoyment he got from irritating McGee and Ziva, the rest of the time he viewed it as punishment for their lack of respect.

Tony was still laughing at McGee's expression when he drank a cup of coffee that Tony had added salt to (Tony was surprised McGee still accepted drinks from him, particularly on a day when Tony had already played multiple pranks), when his cellphone rang.

Tony leaned back in his chair, making sure he could still see McGee's disgusted expression, before answering the phone.

"Very Special Agent Dinozzo!"

"Hey, Tony." JJ's voice greeted him. "Have I mentioned how much I love the fact that you're back?"

"Once or twice." Tony answered with a smirk. "How can I help you, lovely lady?"

McGee's face acquired a new look of disgust.

"How can he already have a new girlfriend?" McGee whispered across their workspace to Ziva. "He's been back twenty four hours."

"Well," JJ's smile was audible. "I am wondering how you would feel about taking me out for a celebration dinner? Rossi's insisting and now that you're back I don't really have an excuse."

Tony's eyebrows rose. When he had JJ had returned from their honeymoon, Rossi had insisted on giving them an evening out at a five star restaurant. It had been amazing! If Rossi wanted to give it to them again who was he to refuse?

"Sounds absolutely scrumptious." Tony told her with his most salacious smirk.

"Excellent." JJ replied. "Rossi will be thrilled. I'll leave my car here over night and meet you in our normal spot."

"Looking forward to it." Tony told her, before ending the call.

"I agree with McGee." Ziva commented. "How can you already have a girl if you are only just returned?"

"If you _have_ only just returned." Tony corrected. "And as to how, well I met her at the docks yesterday. I think she was welcoming home her brother."

"You don't know?" Tim asked in disgust.

"We only talked for a few minutes, McGee." Tony rolled his eyes. "We talked for a few minutes, exchanged phone numbers, and then went our separate ways."

"Do you at least know her name?" Ziva asked with a sneer.

"Regina." Tony told them proudly.

"Regina?" McGee echoed. "Really?"

"What is wrong with the name Regina?" Ziva asked curiously.

"Nothing," McGee said quickly. "It's just a bit old isn't it?"

Tony smirked. "Trust me, probie, old is not a word that anyone would use to describe Regina."

McGee and Ziva both looked appropriately disgusted.


	12. All Things Come To An End: Prologue

**Author's Note: The eleven parts of this story up till this one were written as one-shots. I have posted them all together because I find that the formatting of this website makes oneshots hard for readers. There are eight more parts to this story (including this one) and they are in the form a chaptered story. Because of this they will be slightly different than their previous counterparts.**

 **1-1-1**

 **Set three months after 'Big News' (two years and five months after they met).**

Tony leaned his head back and sighed in boredom as he listened to his third straight hour of the recordings that had been taken using the listening device he had slipped into SecNav Davenport's pocket the previous week during his and Ziva's attempt to break into the secure Navy facility the week before.

"Where to, sir?"

"Home. My niece Erica is in town and I promised Janet that I would be home for dinner."

"Yes, sir."

Davenport's voice was becoming increasingly grating – the man never seemed to shut up! Tony unplugged his laptop and carried it into the kitchen to make some tea. JJ was in New Mexico on a case, so Tony had decided to spend the evening working – if he got it done now, he would be able to spend more time with JJ when her case was over.

"This is Secretary Davenport…I'm on my way home now, dear…"

The last month had been a hard one for both of them. Tony's team had uncovered Michelle Lee as the mole at NCIS and Gibbs had been insufferable in his grief at having killed her, while JJ's team was still dealing with the after effects of Agent Hotchner being held by the Reaper. It didn't help that JJ was now eight months pregnant.

"Damn, cyclists."

"Sorry, sir, I'll have to take a detour."

"Don't make it a long one. Or, on second thought, make it at least fifteen minutes. I have some work I need to do."

Tony sighed as he made himself a pot of tea and then dug around in the freezer for some cheesecake. They had bought it a few weeks ago when JJ had been having a craving, but she'd only managed to eat one slice before deciding that she didn't like it.

"Is it done?...And there were no problems?...Good, good. I look forward to receiving the full report tonight."

Tony considered trying to balance his laptop, teapot and cheesecake all in one load, before deciding to make two trips. The last thing he wanted was to have to scrub cheesecake out of the carpet. Once he was settled back in his office chair, he poured himself a cup of tea.

"Yes, I just heard from Peters…It was a success…Sleiman is out of the picture."

Tony stiffened and leaned forward intently, but Davenport's phone call seemed to be over and he started commented on the traffic again. Tony pulled his laptop closer and replayed the last few minutes of recording, was this it? He had no idea who Sleiman was, but if he was dead, or even missing, then this might be the information they needed to prove that SecNav had been using Project Lazarus to order unsanctioned assassinations.

Tony's tea and cheesecake lay forgotten as he listened intently to the rest of the recording. The possibility of having found the evidence he needed was enough to make even Davenport's dinner conversation with his wife and niece interesting. After dinner, Davenport excused himself and Tony waited hopefully. The earlier mention of Sleiman, whoever that was, would hopefully be enough, but Tony was hoping for something more. There was the sound of a door opening and closing, then car driving past and a dog barking and Tony presumed that the man had gone for a walk.

A few minutes later, Davenport spoke again. "What happened?"

"He caught up with Sleiman in LA." A man's voice answered. "There were no problems."

"And the body?" Davenport asked.

"Was left in an alley, missing his wallet."

"The police will suspect a mugging then." Davenport's tone was approving. "Good."

Tony stared at the laptop, his hands shaking in anticipation. This was it! This was what he had been looking for. This was his key to being released from his undercover assignment – and four whole months early. If everything went well, he might even be free by the time JJ gave birth to Twinkletoes.

He stood up and quickly unlocked the safe that he kept under his desk, retrieving a brand new cell phone from it. Then he sat down again and turned it on. It was excruciating to have to wait for the phone to boot up. When the phone was finally functional he used a voucher he had bought months ago to put credit on the phone and then sent General Pike a message.

'10387 – meet you soon?'

Pike replied within a minute, with an order to meet him 'at the blue room, at twenty three hundred hours'.

Tony carefully copied the relevant sections of the recording onto an USB, before adding it to a large envelope from his safe. Then, after texting JJ to let her know that he was going out, he got into his car and made his way to the safe house that Pike had referred to in his text.

The lights were already on by the time Tony arrived at the house and he knocked cautiously at the door.

"Sir." The door was opened by a young petty officer.

"Petty officer." Tony nodded in greeting as he stepped into the house. "Where is the General?"

"Through here, sir." The petty officer led him through a door and into a room where General Pike was sitting at a table.

"You're late." General Pike commented.

Tony saluted the man. "Sorry, sir."

"At ease, Colonel." Pike waved a hand towards the petty officer. "Reynolds, go wait in the hall."

"Yes, sir!" Petty Officer Reynolds nodded briskly and left, shutting the door behind him.

"What did you find?" Pike asked, waving Tony towards a seat.

Tony sat down and pulled his laptop out of his bag. "A voice recording, sir."

Pike's eyebrows rose. "Will it be enough?"

"I think so, sir." Tony pulled up the recording and pressed play.

Pike listened to it with a blank expression, nodding to Tony when it finished. "Who is Sleiman?"

"I don't know, sir." Tony admitted. "We need to get our hands on the body."

Pike frowned in thought. "Are you still certain that Leon Vance is honest?"

"He's more of a politician than an agent, sir." Tony answered. "But there is no evidence of any corrupt or criminal behaviours."

"I will speak to the Secretary of Defence in the morning." Pike told him. "And recommend to him that we read Vance into the situation. We need his resources."

"Yes, sir." Tony nodded.

Pike stood up and Tony quickly followed him. "This is good work, Colonel."

"Thank you, sir."

"Do you have copies of all the relevant information?" Pike asked.

"Yes, sir." Tony picked up his bag and pulled out the envelope containing the USB and papers. He handed them to the General.

"I'll see that the Secretary of Defence gets this." Pike promised him. "Go home and get some sleep, Colonel. Tomorrow is likely to be a big day."

"Yes, sir."

1-1-1


	13. All Things Come To An End: Chapter One

Leon Vance couldn't help but feel proud of his domain as he strode up the stairs towards his office. NCIS wasn't perfect, but it was a damn lot better than any of the other federal agencies. He would have hated to be the FBI Director – sure they had more resources at their disposal, but was glad he didn't have to deal with all the moles and leaks they seemed to struggle with. The situation with Agent Lee had been bad enough and, as regrettable as her death was, it was a relief to know that NCIS was mole free again.

He wasn't naive enough to believe that he would never have to deal with another leak in his organisation during his time as director, but it was comforting to know that it would likely be years away. He knew Jackie and the kids were just as relieved as he was, he'd barely seen them in the last couple of months.

"Good morning, Cynthia." He greeted his secretary who was already seated behind her desk.

"Good morning, Director." Cynthia stood up and came around to meet him.

Leon stopped and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"The Secretary of Defence is in your office." Cynthia told him quietly.

Leon's eyebrows climbed higher. "Secretary Moore?"

"Yes, sir." Cynthia looked just as curious as he felt. "He's been waiting for fifteen minutes."

Leon grimaced, of all the mornings for him to be running late. "Thank you." He clenched his jaw and stepped forward, pushing open his office door.

Secretary Alexander Moore was sitting at the head of the table, a file open in front of him. He looked up when Leon entered though and nodded in greeting.

"Director Vance."

"Secretary Moore." Leon returned, shrugging off his coat and hanging it on the coat rack. "My apologies for the wait. How can I help you?"

"We're waiting on one more person." Moore told him seriously. "He shouldn't be long."

Leon clenched his teeth, it rankled to have someone taking control of his office without even bothering to inform him – even if that person was the Secretary of Defence. He sat down behind his desk and turned on his computer before reaching for a toothpick in irritation. Normally he lasted at least another two hours before needing something to chew out his frustration on.

Leon and Moore sat in silence for a few more minutes, Moore studying the file in front of him and Leon reading his emails, before Leon's phone signalled that Cynthia was trying to contact him.

"Yes?" Leon snapped into the phone, before biting hard on his toothpick. There was no reason for him to take his frustration out on his secretary.

"Agent Dinozzo is here to see you, sir." Cynthia asked, her tone questioning. "He says you're expecting him."

Leon frowned in annoyance – surely Dinozzo wasn't the person that Secretary Moore was waiting for. The man was an idiot.

"Is that Lieut…" Moore grimaced. "Agent Dinozzo?"

Leon's toothpick snapped. "Send him in." He ordered through phone, before hanging up and chucking out the toothpick. He had just slipped a new one in his mouth when Dinozzo stepped through the door carrying a briefcase

"Sirs." Dinozzo nodded to them both seriously.

If Leon hadn't known the agent, he would have described Dinozzo's posture as almost military.

"Dinozzo." Moore returned. "Good to see you again."

"Likewise, sir." Dinozzo replied.

Leon looked between them in confusion. When had Dinozzo met the Secretary of Defence?

"Alright." Moore closed the file in front of him and sat up straighter. "I need you to secure the room please, director."

Leon clenched his teeth in frustration as he complied. He hated feeling as though he was out of loop and the fact that Dinozzo seemed to be in the know made it even worse. He stood up and moved to flick the switch that would put the room into lockdown.

"Have a seat, Director." Moore commanded. "You too, Dinozzo."

Leon gritted his teeth as his toothpick snapped again and he slipped a few spares into his pocket. He suspected that he was going to need them.

Dinozzo was already sitting at Moore's left when Leon sat down and there was something different about him. He looked calmer, and more serious, than Leon could ever remember seeing him.

"Nine years ago, Secretary Atwell, the current SecNav's predecessor, became concerned by the increasing number of rumours that were floating around about corruption at NCIS." Moore started seriously.

Leon couldn't help but sit straighter at the seriousness in the SecDef's voice. He remembered those rumours, he'd been leading a Major Case Response Team in San Diego at the time and had ignored the rumours as mere speculation.

"Secretary Atwell responded by approaching my own predecessor for authorisation to plant a mole at NCIS to investigate the rumours." Moore continued.

"A mole?" Leon couldn't help but think of the whole mess with Agent Lee.

"For lack of a better word, yes." Moore answered. "My predecessor authorised the operation and it was arranged for a marine officer to go undercover for an extended amount of time."

Leon felt as though his world was spinning. "Why was I not informed of this?"

"Because it wasn't just the junior agents that were being investigated." Moore told him bluntly. "You do remember how you inherited this position do you not, Director?"

Leon's stomach clenched at the insinuation – they'd suspected him of corruption? He couldn't think of anything he might have done that would have earned him that kind of suspicion. He was a by the book kind of agent – always had been, always would be. Unless they'd somehow found something that made him look guilty and they were here to arrest him. What would happen to Jackie and the kids?

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There was no point jumping to conclusions, particularly not stupid, paranoid conclusions. He'd done nothing wrong, he knew that. Besides Moore had said that the operation had been started nine years ago, there was no way the marines would have allowed one of their men to be undercover for that long.

"We're reading you in now because you're clean." Moore interrupted Leon's thoughts. "Our mole has found nothing suspicious about your behaviour."

Leon let out a breath that he hadn't known he was holding. "You mean the mole is still active? After nine years?" He suddenly became aware of Dinozzo's presence and his stomach clenched again – this time in dread. How long had Dinozzo been at NCIS again? He was sure it wasn't as long as nine years.

Moore looked uncomfortable. "Things got a little out of hand, but his assignment is almost finished. He's been working specifically on finding the evidence we need to convict someone specific for the last year and we think we've found the evidence we need."

Now that his paranoid fear of being arrested for corruption he hadn't confessed was gone, Leon couldn't help but feel irritated again. He really hated being out of the loop and Moore kept tiptoeing around the important details. Like who the damn mole was and who they were investigating.

"Director Vance," Moore said after a long pause. "I'd like to introduce you to Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo of the United States Marine Corps."

Leon's toothpick snapped. "What?"

"Director." Dinozzo actually looked amused and Leon didn't think he had ever met anyone as annoying as the half-witted agent.

"Here," Moore slid the file he'd been reading across the table to Leon. "Take a few minutes."

Leon opened the folder and then stared at the photo of a younger looking Dinozzo in a marine uniform with so many badges that his left side looked like a damn rainbow. He studied the photo carefully as he absently replaced his snapped toothpick. The picture looked legitimate and if he hadn't spent the last two years having to deal with the idiocy that was Dinozzo he would have had no problems believing that the man in it was a highly decorated marine.

He turned the page began reading what he now realised was Dinozzo's file, his real file, as opposed to his NCIS one which Leon realised must be a work of fiction. Dinozzo was forty three and had been in the Marine Corps since he was eighteen. He was an exemplary soldier who specialised in undercover work – such as acting as a mole within NCIS.

Leon turned the page again and began reading a list of Dinozzo's accomplishments and almost pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. This couldn't be real. The playboy agent that he'd spend the last two years trying to pretend wasn't in his agency couldn't seriously have been awarded Navy Cross. It wasn't until he reached the line that claimed that Dinozzo had a PhD that Leon looked up at the man in mention in disbelief.

"A PhD, Dinozzo?"

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo's voice sounded different, more serious somehow. "I finished it five years ago."

"I understand that it's a lot to take in, director." Moore broke in. "But we need to move on. Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo's assignment has always been under the purview of Secretary Davenport, but a year and two months ago I approached him with a new assignment – separate from his original one. Since then Dinozzo has been operating under two separate handlers. This was necessary due to the nature of Dinozzo's second assignment."

Leon blinked at that. He'd done his own share of undercover work and couldn't imagine the complexities that would come with having two different assignments with different handlers.

"What exactly was Dinozzo's second assignment?" Leon asked.

"Dinozzo?" Moore asked.

"I have been investigating Secretary Davenport, sir." Dinozzo answered and again Leon couldn't help but note a difference to Dinozzo's tone and speech patterns. "He has been using Operation Frankenstein to order unsanctioned hits on men and women that he views as a threat to our nation."

Leon blanched, could the day have any more surprises in it? He knew about Operation Frankenstein of course, the whole operation had been spawned from an idea that he'd had in college, and he'd worked with Davenport and Kort to get it running. The last thing he'd expected to hear was that Davenport, the Secretary of the Navy, was using his idea to order unauthorised assassinations.

Well, actually that wasn't true. The idea that Dinozzo was actually a marine, and a Lieutenant Colonel at that, was still the last thing he'd expected to hear.

"You mentioned evidence?" Leon asked Moore.

"Dinozzo?" Moore asked again and Dinozzo reached down and pulled a laptop out of his briefcase.

Leon watched as Dinozzo turned the laptop on and then accepted the folder the Dinozzo handed him.

"That is all I had until last night." Dinozzo said, his attention on the laptop again. "It will be useful in court, but not enough to get a conviction. Then last night I heard this."

Dinozzo clicked a button on the laptop and Secretary Davenport's voice came out of the speakers.

"Is it done?...And there were no problems?...Good, good. I look forward to receiving the full report tonight."

Dinozzo leant forward. "Then he makes another phonecall."

"Yes, I just heard from Peters…It was a success…Sleiman is out of the picture."

Leon raised an eyebrow sceptically. "That's it?"

"No." Dinozzo shook his head and clicked a button on the laptop. "Then Davenport goes home and has dinner with his wife and niece. After dinner he goes for a walk and meets up with someone." He clicked another button and Davenport's voice sounded again.

"What happened?"

"He caught up with Sleiman in LA." A man's voice answered. "There were no problems."

"And the body?" Davenport asked.

"Was left in an alley, missing his wallet."

"The police will suspect a mugging then." Davenport's tone was approving. "Good."

Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out a toothpick which he slipped into his mouth alongside the first one.

"Well, director?" Moore asked. "Will it be enough?"

"Do you have the body?" Leon asked them.

"Not yet." Moore shook his head. "That's why we're reading you in. We need you to take over the investigation. Dinozzo has done good work, but he can't do anything more without breaking his cover."

Leon's eyes moved to Dinozzo. "You plan to stay undercover then?"

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo nodded. "Until Secretary Moore ends my assignment."

"You've been undercover for nine years?" Leon asked, still horrified by the prospect.

"Eight and a half." Dinozzo corrected. "It took us six months to set the operation up."

"That's a long time." Leon commented.

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo agreed.

Leon had a sudden thought. "You married?"

Dinozzo smiled. "Yes, sir."

"She must be a saint." Leon chuckled, there was no way Jackie would have put up with him being undercover for so long.

"I only met her two and a half years ago, sir." Dinozzo answered. "But yes, she is amazing."

Leon studied Dinozzo in fascination – it was as though a completely different man was sitting in front of him. If he hadn't been read into the situation he would have presumed he was talking to Dinozzo's identical twin – this man was nothing like his annoying agent.

Moore cleared his throat. "How do you want to play this, Vance?"

"I presume you want this done without catching Secretary Davenport's attention?" Leon asked.

"Yes."

"I'll assign Agent Gibbs' team to the case." Leon told him. "That way Dinozzo here can keep an eye on the investigation. If all that you've told me is true then Agent Dinozzo is likely to pick up things that the rest of the team doesn't."

Moore grimaced. "We need this to be by the book, Director, and from what I've read in Dinozzo's reports Gibbs is likely to go off script when he wants to."

Leon didn't disagree. "I don't see any other way to include Agent Dinozzo in the investigation and it would be mistake not to – his information could be invaluable."

"I'll keep an eye on Gibbs, sir." Dinozzo promised Moore.

"Alright." Moore nodded. "The case is in your hands, Director. Don't screw it up."

Leon clenched his jaw in annoyance.

"Will I still be reporting to General Pike, sir?" Dinozzo asked.

Moore considered that. "Yes, but you'll be reporting to Director Vance as well." He pushed himself to his feet and Dinozzo quickly followed him. That just as much as anything convinced Leon that Dinozzo really was a marine.

"Good day, gentlemen." Moore said briskly. "Keep me updated."

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo answered.

Leon stood up and flicked the switch to release the doors so the Secretary could leave. Once Moore was gone, Leon turned his attention back to Dinozzo who was still standing stiffly.

"I would like to see your reports."

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo answered quickly. "I have them on my laptop. I can leave it here, if you would like."

Leon couldn't help but be surprised by Dinozzo's willingness to cooperate. Normally Dinozzo was…except that wasn't really Dinozzo – that was an undercover persona.

"You have all eight years' worth of reports on that laptop?" Leon asked in surprise.

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo answered him. "The laptop is incapable of connecting to the internet and I keep it in my safe at home."

"At home where you live with your wife." Leon commented, still finding it hard to believe that Dinozzo, NCIS' resident playboy, was married.

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo replied expressionlessly.

"Leave the laptop." Leon ordered. "What's the password?"

"I will write it down for you, sir." Dinozzo told him, reaching for a pen and a paper from the middle of the table.

Leon studied Dinozzo, as he bent his head and wrote the password out. He felt as though his thoughts were on repeat. He just couldn't get his head around how different Dinozzo was. He was so polite and obedient, probably because Moore had just placed Dinozzo under Leon's command. Everything about the man seemed different. His mannerisms, his voice, his expressions, not to mention almost every detail about the man's life.

"Here, sir." Dinozzo walked around the table and handed Leon the piece of paper.

"You must be looking forward to this being over." Leon commented as he took the paper.

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo nodded. "My wife is eight months pregnant. I'm hoping to have this all squared away by the time she gives birth."

Leon's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir." Dinozzo smiled slightly. "What would you like me to do, sir?"

Leon considered that. "Just proceed as usual, Dinozzo. I will call Gibbs up here to brief him on the case in a few minutes."

"Yes, sir."

"You can go." Leon told him. "I imagine Gibbs is looking for you."

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo said again, before closing his eyes.

Leon watched in fascination as the stiff backed marine that had been standing in front of him transformed into an insolently slouching agent. If he hadn't been watching, he didn't think he would have believed it.

Leon watched Dinozzo leave, before allowed himself to sit down and rub his face tiredly. This was not the morning he had been expecting when he'd arrived at the office. He reached out a hand and picked up the phone before dialling Jackie's number.

"Hello?" Jackie's voice calmed him slightly.

"How is your morning going?" Leon asked her, desperate for some information that didn't involve Dinozzo being a marine or Davenport ordering unsanctioned assassinations.

"Alright," Jackie sounded curious. "At least it has been so far, in the whole hour and a half since you left."

Leon grimaced, had it only been that long? He felt as though his morning had been going forever. "I just wanted to let you know that I might be home late tonight."

"What about my parents?" Jackie asked sharply. "They're only in town for one night."

Leon winced. "What time are they coming?"

"Four thirty." Jackie answered dryly. "I reminded you this morning. You were going to come home early to spend some time with them."

"I'll do my best." Leon promised, maybe he could go home for a few hours and then come back to work? Or better yet, maybe they would have solved the case and arrested Davenport by then.

Leon said his goodbyes to Jackie and hung up the phone with a sigh. This was not the day he had been hoping for.


	14. All Things Come To An End: Chapter Two

Timothy McGee looked from Tony's empty desk, to the clock, to Gibbs with a sort of excited anticipation. He knew it was childish of him, but it wasn't as though Tony's behaviour wasn't childish all the time.

He turned his attention back to his computer monitor for another few minutes, before looking at the clock again before exchanging a smug smile with Ziva. It was nearly nine o'clock and Tony was fifty four minutes late and counting. Gibbs was going to be so mad!

Tim honestly didn't know why Gibbs continued to keep Tony around. Sure the older man was a decent investigator, but there were plenty of other agents at NCIS who were just as good and much less annoying. The problem with Gibbs was that he didn't seem to like change – the man had even lived in the same house for over twenty years!

Tim thought that Gibbs' aversion to change was the reason for the lead agent's rocky relationship with Director Vance. Sure they had all been shocked when Director Sheppard had been arrested, but Vance was a competent director and Gibbs' dislike of the man was petty.

Not only that, but Gibbs' resistance to change was the only reason that Gibbs' hadn't made Tim his Senior Field Agent – he was certainly more qualified for the job than Tony was. Being under Tony in the hierarchy, regardless of how theoretical it was, was embarrassing and if working with Gibbs' hadn't been the quickest way to promotion he would have asked for a transfer years ago.

"You're late!" Gibbs snarled suddenly, and Tim couldn't help but flinch at the sudden noise.

"Sorry, boss." Tony's tone was flippant. "I was upstairs talking to Cynthia – she is looking especially fine this morning. She asked me to tell you that the Director would like to see you."

Tim couldn't help but curl his upper lip in disgust – Tony was such a pig.

Gibbs glared at Tony and then stalked out the bullpen, towards the stairs, slapping the back of Tony's head as he left.

"Yes, boss, sorry, boss." Tony said with a wince. "It won't happen again."

Gibbs ignored him and stalked up the stairs towards the director's office.

"You are late." Ziva said unnecessarily. "Very late."

"I was here before either of you." Tony told her with a grin. "So technically, I was on time."

Tim grimaced. "Flirting with Cynthia doesn't count as being at work, Tony."

Tony shook his head as though disappointed. "Ah, McFuddy Duddy, you have no idea the information I have procured through my conversations with the lovely Cynthia."

"Like what?" Tim asked challengingly.

Tony looked flummoxed for a moment, before smiling slyly. "Like the fact that when our esteemed leader returns we will be assigned a new case."

"We've already got a case." Tim pointed out.

"Somehow, I don't think Director Vance cares all that much about our workload." Tony pointed out.

Tim couldn't help but bristle at that, it hadn't sounded like an insult, but Tony never mentioned Director Vance without throwing in something scathing.

Tony's cellphone rang loudly and Tim couldn't help but sneer when he saw the agent almost fall off his chair in shock.

"Very Special Agent Dinozzo speaking," Tony answered smugly, when he had righted himself in his chair.

"Well, hello there." Tony smirked salaciously and Tim couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor woman on the other end of the line. Then again, any woman stupid enough to date Tony deserved him.

"I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it." Tony said, his smirk becoming smug. "I miss you already."

Tim exchanged a disgusted look with Ziva, why did they have to work with Tony? He turned his attention back to his computer, trying to ignore Tony's innuendo filled conversation. If Tony was right, and, as much as it pained Tim to admit it, he usually was about these sorts of things, then they were about to have a new case. Which meant that he needed to finish going through the financial details of Petty Officer Turpin, who had been found murdered two nights earlier, as soon as possible.

2-2-2

It was another twenty minutes before Gibbs returned from his meeting with Director Vance. Tim didn't see him until he was standing angrily in the middle of their section of the bullpen and he wished, not for the first time, that his desk faced the staircase.

"With me." Gibbs growled before striding towards the elevator and Tim almost tripped over himself in his hurry to catch up with his boss.

"Where are we going?" Tony asked curiously as they all crowded into the elevator.

Gibbs didn't say anything, but the button he pressed answered for him – autopsy. They were all silent as the elevator moved, even Tony which was strange, and then they followed Gibbs out of the elevator and into autopsy.

Tim couldn't help swallowing heavily when he saw that Ducky and Palmer were in the middle of an autopsy and Palmer was actually holding some kind of organ.

Ducky looked surprised to see them, while Palmer looked nervous – as he always did around Gibbs. Tim really hoped that Palmer's nervous didn't make him drop any body parts on his shoes.

"Jethro!" Ducky greeted them cheerily. "What can I do for you this lovely morning?"

Tim didn't think he would ever get used to talking to someone whose hands were inside a dead body.

"We need to talk, Ducky." Gibbs answered brusquely, before eyeing Palmer. "Privately."

Ducky frowned slightly, but nodded. "I suppose it can't wait? Very well then, how about you fetch us some morning tea, Mr. Palmer. I have to admit to feeling quite peckish."

Palmer looked resigned as he put the organ he'd been holding in an evidence bag and then stripped off his gloves. "Yes, doctor."

Tim couldn't help but feel sorry for the man.

Ducky pulled another organ out of the body as Palmer left and Tim looked away uncomfortably.

"The director has assigned us a new case." Gibbs told them, practically growling the word 'director'. "Earlier this week a man named Sleiman was murdered in LA. The director would like us to investigate it."

Tim frowned, both at the vagueness of the information and Gibbs' disdain for the director.

"Do we have a body?" Tony asked curiously.

"No."

"Do we have a timeframe at least?" Tony asked.

"Before Tuesday night." Gibbs answered. "Mostly likely Monday or Tuesday."

"That's it?" Tim couldn't help but ask. "What's the connection to the Navy?"

Gibbs' expression twisted angrily. "The director did not share that information."

"So we have a dead guy with the name Sleiman, who died at least three days ago somewhere in LA?" Tony asked incredulously. "What does the director think we are? Magicians?"

Gibbs ignored him. "Ducky, any chance you could help us track down the body?"

Ducky's hands were still buried in the body. "I can certainly talk to a few friends of mine, Jethro, but I can't promise anything."

"Do we know how he died?" Tony asked.

"Apparently it was made to look like a mugging." Gibbs answered.

"Ah," Ducky nodded. "Well then, that should certainly make things easier. It will be quite the treasure hunt, I'm sure. It reminds me of a time when I was young and one of my older cousins arranged a scavenger hunt for us younger children. They…"

"Not now, Ducky." Gibbs interrupted. "Dinozzo, Ziva, I want you on the first flight to Los Angeles. McGee, try and figure out which Sleiman is dead and why."

Tim grimaced, did Gibbs have any idea how many Sleimans there would be? He supposed he should be glad that the victim's name wasn't Smith.

"Yes, boss." Tony answered Gibbs. "I'll go book us some flights."

"Guess this means you won't be able to make your date." Tim couldn't help but comment in an undertone.

Tony's disappointed expression was almost comical

2-2-2

In the end it was easier than they had thought it would be to find the body they were looking for. Ducky's contacts had come up with a list of three people who had been murdered in the forty eight hour period that Gibbs had given them, only one of whom had been mugged. The fact that the mugging victim was a john doe only solidified their case.

Ziva and Tony somehow managed to convince the local police department to turn the case over to NCIS and were back in Washington, with the body, by midnight.

Tim's own task had not been quite so successful. He had been right, there were a lot of Sleimans in America, and while six of them had been reported missing, none of them matched their victim. The biggest problem was that there was no way of knowing whether their victim was American were just visiting, which basically left Tim with nothing. He hated coming up with nothing!

Tony was his usual smug self and, within an hour of returning and joining Tim's search, proceeded to make Tim look incompetent by finding at match. How should Tim have known to look through NCIS's list of suspected terrorists?

Aabis Sleiman was a thirty five year old Egyptian national who was suspected of having been one of the masterminds behind the bombing of an Egyptian restaurant that had killed three American Tourists in 2007.

Despite the fact that it was one thirty in the morning, Tony seemed positively jubilant over the results and Tim started to get suspicious. Had Tony put superglue on his keyboard again?

Ducky finished his autopsy of the body at eight that morning and they all met down in autopsy to hear his results, even Director Vance who kept looking at Tony out the corner of his eye. Which wasn't unusual, except that Vance's looks didn't seem to be suspicious or disdainful, they were almost admiring.

"How did he die, Duck?" Gibbs asked once they were all there.

"He was suffocated." Ducky told them. "See these marks? The killer seemed to have used a garrotte. It was cleanly done, the killer certainly seemed to know what he was doing."

"And the bruises?" Gibbs asked.

"They were inflicted post-mortem, I believe." Ducky answered.

"Someone wanted it to look like a mugging?" Tony asked.

"So it seems." Ducky agreed. "The question is why?"

Gibbs spun around so he was facing them. "McGee, look into Sleiman's financial statements. Ziva, I want you to go over the files from LAPD again. Dinozzo,"

"Compile a list of people who wanted him dead." Tony finished for him. "On it, boss."

Tim shot Tony an incredulous look. Their victim was a terrorist, the list of people who wanted him dead was probably endless.

2-2-2

It wasn't until mid-afternoon that they caught another break in the case. It was Ziva who found it, something that pleased Tim immensely – it was much less embarrassing to be outdone by Ziva than Tony.

"Look." She pointed to a photo that was on the large monitor. "There is a camera."

Tim leaned forward and squinted. "Is it pointed in the right direction?"

"Never hurts to ask, probie." Tony chirped annoyingly from his desk.

Amazingly the camera was pointing in the right direction and the store owner sent them the footage without any fuss. Tim couldn't believe that the police officers who had investigated the scene had missed it. It just went to show how incompetent the police were. No wonder Tony was so mediocre. He didn't buy Tony's excuse of how police detectives worked multiple cases as once, if they were more competent they wouldn't get such a backlog.

The camera footage was awful. Not only was the quality of the image terrible, but the killer knew how to stay in the shadows. They sent it to Abby without much hope of her finding anything and turned their attention back to Tony's painfully long list of people who had reason to kill Sleiman. Tony, being the idiot that he was, had put NCIS on the top of the list.

Tony received another phone call from his latest fling at five and Tim couldn't help but be relieved when Tony went to get coffee while talking to her. He'd been up for thirty five hours and his patience was wearing thin – the last thing he wanted to hear was Tony being his usual disgusting self with his girlfriend.

Tony returned fifteen minutes later bearing coffee for each of them. Tim gulped down his first mouthful of coffee thankfully, before gagging when all he could taste was salt. Tony was such a bastard!

Gibbs, whose temper had been steadily getting worse since Vance assigned them the case, snarled at Tony and made him give his coffee to Tim.

Tony's coffee was disgustingly bitter, but Tim drank it with a smug smirk anyway – just to see Tony glare at him.

It looked for a moment as though Gibbs was going to let them go home around half past six, but then Abby called to let them know that she had managed to isolate their murder's face and it was all go again.

Once they had the face it was easy and Abby's computer spat out a name within an hour.

Lieutenant Evan Wright of the United States Navy. No wonder Vance had assigned them this case, but how had he known?

Gibbs assigned them all the task of finding the location of Wright and then stalked his way upstairs to talk to Director Vance.

Tim focussed on his search for the Lieutenant, frowning in frustration when all his searches were blocked due to the information being 'classified'. What was Wright involved in? He considered hacking his way to the information, but decided to wait until Gibbs got back. If all their meetings in autopsy were anything to go by, Director Vance and Gibbs didn't want to draw unwanted attention to the case.

Gibbs was gone for over half an hour and when he returned he looked furious. "Go home!"

Tim stared at him in surprise.

"What?" Tony asked. "But what about Lieutenant Wright?"

"Home, Dinozzo!" Gibbs snapped, before retrieving his gun from his drawer and stalking towards the elevator.

Tim exchanged confused looks with Tony and Ziva as they slowly stood up and began preparing to leave. What was going on?


	15. All Things Come To An End: Chapter Three

Tony followed McGee and Ziva to the elevator, before stopping suddenly. "Damn, I forgot my coat. You guys go ahead, I'll see you tomorrow."

Ziva and McGee nodded tiredly in agreement, the two days without sleep apparently catching up with them, and pushed the button in the elevator to leave.

Tony made his way back to his desk and then passed it by, making his way up the stairs to Vance's office. Cynthia's desk was empty, which wasn't a surprise given that it was past eight, so he knocked politely on the door and then let himself in when Vance bid him to.

Vance was sitting behind his desk with Tony's laptop in front of him, but he looked up when Tony entered.

"Dinozzo." He nodded and closed the laptop's lid. "You got my message then."

"Yes, sir." Tony stopped in front of Vance's desk and stood to attention.

"I am awaiting a call from Secretary Moore to give us the go ahead. He wanted to run our case past the Associate Attorney General." Vance told him. "Have a seat."

"Thank you, sir." Tony sat stiffly in one of the chairs facing Vance's desk. It felt strange to act like a marine again, and even more so to act like a marine around Vance.

"I've been reading your reports." Vance commented, gesturing to the laptop in front of him. "They make an interesting read."

Tony wondered whether Vance had read the reports that focussed on him yet. He doubted the man would enjoy reading about the different ways that Tony had broken his privacy.

"Your evaluations of the members of your team are very critical." Vance continued.

It was true. One of his original orders had been to evaluate every agent that he interacted with and while he had written many glowing evaluations, Gibbs', Kate's, McGee's and Ziva's had not been among them.

"It must have been difficult to work for Agent Gibbs for eight years if you viewed him as an," Vance picked up a piece of paper and read from it. "Arrogant, revenge driven man, who has little regard for any rules beside his own."

"Yes, sir." Tony agreed.

"Can the scripted answers, Dinozzo." Vance snapped at him, slipping a toothpick into his mouth. "Do you stand by your evaluations?"

"Yes, sir." Tony repeated firmly. "Agent Gibbs might get results, but it only by sheer luck that none of his cases have been thrown out in court. Beyond that, his behaviour is rarely professional and his management skills are severely lacking."

Vance studied him silently. "What would your recommendation be?"

Tony didn't even have to think about it. "Offer him an early retirement."

"He's only fifty." Vance pointed out.

"Or offer him an Agent Afloat position." Tony added.

Vance frowned thoughtfully at that. "And Agent McGee and Officer David?"

"I think that McGee has the potential to do well if he has the opportunity to learn with another agent." Tony commented. "Many of his current flaws are ones that he has learnt from Gibbs. As for David, I have never understood why our Mossad Liaison is working as a Federal Agent – surely there are more skill appropriate roles for her?"

Vance studied him again. "You are very different."

"Than my 'Very Special Agent persona'?" Tony asked with an amused smile. "Yes, sir."

"Did you have to make yourself so annoying?" Vance complained.

Tony grinned. "Yes, sir. It got Gibbs attention and encouraged people to underestimate me."

Vance grimaced and then picked up his phone when it began ringing. "Vance…I understand…Yes, he is with me now…See you soon." He hung up the phone and then stood up. "We have a green light."

Tony stood with him. "What is the plan, sir?"

"Secretary Moore is going to call Davenport into a meeting at his office at nine thirty." Vance explained as he pulled on his coat. "We will arrest him when he arrives."

Tony followed Vance out of his office. "Thank you for including me, sir."

Vance slowed so they were walking in step. "It's your hard work that has gotten us here, Dinozzo. You deserve to be present when it ends."

Tony didn't disagree, but he wasn't entirely sure that he believed that tonight would be the end of his eight and half years undercover – that seemed too good to be true.

They walked out to the carpark together and then came to a halt when they saw Gibbs leaning against Vance's car with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Gibbs." Vance greeted him coldly.

"Leon." Gibb's returned, pushing himself off the car.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Gibbs?" Vance asked.

"Finishing my case." Gibbs answered.

"It's not your case anymore." Vance told him. "I told you that I'd handle it."

Tony watched Gibbs' expression darken with hidden amusement. He was pretty sure that the older man was talking his way to an early retirement, or an agent afloat position.

"You can't give me a case and then ask me to walk away, Leon." Gibbs argued.

"I'm the director." Vance snapped.

"And what the hell is Dinozzo doing here?" Gibbs asked, his angry gaze shifting to Tony.

"Following orders." Vance answered.

Gibbs' eyes returned to Vance. "You're not arresting Davenport without me."

Tony glanced at Vance in surprise. He hadn't realised that the director had decided to read Gibbs into that part of the case – then again, knowing Gibbs, Vance probably hadn't had much of a choice.

Vance stiffened angrily. "You're on thin ice, Agent Gibbs. Walk away. Go home, this doesn't have anything to do with you."

"It's my case!" Gibbs growled.

Vance's jaw tightened. "If you come, you come as an observer."

"Fine."

It took them twenty five minutes to get to the pentagon, twenty five very awkward minutes. Vance drove, with Gibbs riding shotgun, while Tony sat in the back dreaming of his assignment being over.

He could barely imagine what it would be like to not have to be 'Agent Tony', to wake up and know that he never again had to swallow Gibbs' insults and head slaps. He couldn't wait to just be a marine again, to have respectable superiors and be respected by his subordinates. Having said that though, if they assigned him undercover again, or assigned him somewhere other than Washington DC, he would seriously consider resigning his commission.

When they arrived at the Pentagon, and Vance had taken the time to carefully park the car – much to Gibbs' disgust – Tony followed the two men into the building. Their badges got them past security without much fuss and then they made their way through the building towards the correct office.

Tony glanced at his watch as they walked and grimaced when he saw that it was almost nine thirty. He doubted Secretary Moore would be impressed if Secretary Davenport arrived before they did.

They arrived at Moore's office at nine thirty eight and the two secret service agents stopped them.

"Director Vance?" One of the agents asked.

"Yes." Vance showed the agent his badge and Tony and Gibbs followed suit.

The second agent narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Secretary Moore told us to expect two of you."

Vance pulled a new toothpick out of his pocket and slipped it into his mouth. "Agent Gibbs was an unexpected addition."

The agents looked over their badges again, but eventually let them through.

"Director Vance." Moore greeted them from an armchair, there was another man sitting beside him.

"Secretary." Vance respectfully. "Agent Gibbs has joined us at his assistance."

Moore frowned disapprovingly at Gibbs. "Have you met Matthew West, Director?"

"No, I don't believe I have." Vance stepped forward and shook hands with the Associate Attorney General. "It's good to meet you, sir."

"Likewise, Director." West nodded. "I've been hearing some good things about NCIS."

"Thank you." Vance replied as he took a seat in the final armchair.

Tony moved to stand against the wall behind him, enjoying Gibbs' put out expression.

"It's a terrible business." West commented. "I could hardly believe it when Alexander told me about, but the evidence is solid. You've done good work."

"I'm afraid that I had very little to do with it." Vance replied. "The situation was only brought to my attention yesterday morning."

The door opened and one of the Secret Service agents entered, before holding the door open for Secretary Davenport.

Davenport entered the office confidently, before stopping in obvious surprise when he saw how many people were there already. His eyes landed on Gibbs first, and his brow furrowed, before he took in Vance, West, Moore and finally Tony.

Tony could tell the exact moment that Davenport caught onto what the meeting was about, because he paled and took a step back.

"Good evening, Philip." Secretary Moore greeted him sombrely as he stood up.

"Alexander." Davenport nodded, thought his eyes were flicking around the room as though looking for a way out.

"Did you really think we wouldn't find out?" Moore asked.

Davenport's jaw twitched. "I was protecting our nation."

"You were contracting assassins." Moore snapped back angrily.

Vance stood up as well. "Secretary Davenport, you are under arrest for the murder of Aabis Sleiman."

Davenport looked surprised. "What?"

Vance ignored him. "You have the right to remain silent, anything that you say can and may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?"

"Listen," Davenport said quickly. "You don't need to do this…"

"Do you understand your rights?" Vance repeated firmly.

"Come on, Philip." Moore said tiredly. "Don't make this harder than it already is."

"Yes." Davenport replied, sounding irritated. "I understand my rights."

"No restraints." Moore told Vance. "At least not until you get him back to NCIS. The president would like to keep this from the press for as long as possible."

Vance nodded in agreement. "Is there anything else?"

"I'd like to speak to Dinozzo for a minute." Moore said.

Gibbs' confused expression was quickly followed by an irritated one.

"We'll wait for you in the car." Vance told Tony, before he ushered Davenport and Gibbs out of the office.

When the door was shut behind them, Tony stood to attention. "Sir!"

"At ease, Colonel." Moore told him, sitting back down.

"Amazing." West commented with wide eyes. "If you hadn't been standing right in front of me…"

"He's good, isn't he?" Moore asked, sounding proud. "A credit to his nation."

Tony's chest clenched proudly as he stood at ease. "Thank you, sir."

"Your assignment is over, Colonel." Moore said with a smile. "General Pike will be expecting you in his office for your first debriefing tomorrow at nine hundred hours."

Tony exhaled heavily in relief and he could feel his hands shaking in relief. "Thank you, sir."

"You may tell Agent Gibbs tonight if you wish." Moore continued. "But it is your choice."

Tony nodded.

"You are a credit to your uniform." Moore told him admiringly.

"Thank you, sir." Tony said again.

"Have a good evening, Colonel."

3-3-3

Jethro Gibbs glared out the window as he waited for Dinozzo to come back from whatever the hell kind of conversation Secretary Moore had wanted him for. He hadn't even known that the Secretary of Defence knew Dinozzo's name, let alone would want to talk to him.

Sure Dinozzo was a capable agent, but he wasn't exactly god's gift to NCIS. Why would Moore want to talk to Dinozzo in place of Leon, or even Jethro? Even more than that, why had Leon included Dinozzo in this but not him? It was confusing and Jethro hated being confused.

Eventually Dinozzo appeared beside the car and opened the back door to get in. He didn't say anything, which was strange for Dinozzo, normally his SFA refused to shut up, and it made Jethro' gut churn. What the hell was going on?

Davenport was being quiet too, though that was probably a wise decision on his part – anything he said now could, and probably would, be used against him at his trial. Jethro was still finding it hard to believe that they had just arrested SecNav for murder. This was not what he had expected when Leon had pulled him into his office the day before. Who would expect that a mugging in LA could result in this? Other than Leon that was, because apparently this had been the outcome he'd been expecting.

They had been driving for a few minutes when Davenport spoke up. "I would have thought you of all people would have understood my actions, Colonel. I've read your file, you know."

Jethro blinked in surprise. What the hell was Davenport talking about? Or, more importantly, who was Davenport talking to? He twisted around in his seat to try and see Davenport's face.

"I'm following orders, sir." Tony said suddenly, and now Jethro twisted even further to try and see his SFA's face. "All I've ever done is follow orders."

Jethro' back was starting to hurt, but he ignored it. What was Dinozzo going on about?

Davenport snorted dismissively. "Last time I looked you were under my command."

"Unfortunately for you, Secretary Moore outranks you, sir." Tony replied tonelessly, his face in shadow.

Jethro untwisted and looked at Leon to try and judge his reaction. Leon didn't look confused at all, in fact if anything he looked amused.

Jethro twisted around in his seat again. "What the hell is going on, Dinozzo?"

Davenport chuckled darkly. "Agent Jethro, Director Vance, let me introduce you to the man who has been spying on NCIS for the last eight years, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Dinozzo of the United States Marine Corps."

Jethro snorted in disbelief. Dinozzo, a marine? That was ridiculous. It was like calling Jethro a debutant. Besides, there was no way he wouldn't have noticed if someone had been spying on his team.

When Dinozzo didn't say anything, Jethro could feel his jaw tighten in irritation. "Is that true, Dinozzo?"

Dinozzo inclined his head. "Yes."

"Impersonating a United States marine is a crime, Dinozzo." Jethro growled at him.

Dinozzo actually snorted in amusement. "Ask Director Vance if you like."

Jethro turned to the director expectantly. "Leon?"

"It's true, Jethro." Leon sounded amused too. "Secretary Moore read me into the operation yesterday morning. Colonel Dinozzo has been operating undercover at NCIS for almost eight years now."

Jethro stared at him in shock. Everyone had gone mad! Was he the only sane person left in the vehicle?

"He's good isn't he?" Davenport sounded far too smug for someone who had just been arrested for murder. "I can't take all the credit, it was my predecessor who came up with the idea, but it has been a pleasure to watch him work."

Jethro shook his head in disbelief. There was no way that Dinozzo was a marine, let alone a Lieutenant Colonel. He was a dim-witted playboy! There was no way his corps had sunk so low.

"It's hard to believe isn't it?" Leon commented, sounding almost sympathetic. "When I saw him yesterday I had trouble believing it was him. He's an outstanding actor."

Jethro stared out the window in shock. He had to be dreaming. That was the only way he could describe this.

The car was silent for the remainder of the drive to the Navy Yard and then Dinozzo silently led Davenport into the building, while Jethro and Leon stayed in the car.

"Tell me this a joke, Leon." He demanded weakly.

Leon looked amused. "Remember when all those rumours were flying around about nine years ago? The ones talking about NCIS corruption? Apparently SecNav decided to do something about them and sent Dinozzo undercover. He's the reason Sheppard was convicted. He's also the one who got us all the information on Davenport."

Jethro hit the dashboard furiously.

"Hey!" Leon exclaimed. "Watch the car."

"He's been lying to me." Jethro growled.

"He's been following orders." Leon told him.

"I want him off my team." Jethro snapped.

"Not a problem." Leon said quickly. "My understanding is that Davenport's arrest signals the end of his assignment."

"His assignment." Jethro sneered. "What kind of marine sneaks around like a spy?"

"A highly decorated one." Vance told him. "I've seen his file, Gibbs. He's been awarded the Navy Cross."

"What?" Jethro asked weakly. The Navy Cross was the second highest award a marine could receive – just below the medal of honour.

Leon chuckled. "It's hard to believe, isn't it?"

Jethro was nowhere near ready to laugh at it. "Try damn impossible."

Leon opened his door and got out. "You coming? I'd like to catch Dinozzo before he leaves. This might be the last chance we get to see him before Davenport's trial."

Jethro growled at the prospect as he followed Leon into the building. If Dinozzo thought he could just disappear without explaining himself, then he had a surprise coming. There was no way he was letting Dinozzo get away without facing the rest of the team.

They caught up with Dinozzo as he was shutting the door of one of the holding cells behind him.

"All set, Dinozzo?" Leon asked.

"Yes, sir." Dinozzo answered seriously and Gibbs couldn't help but stare at the change in his Senior Field Agent. Except Dinozzo wasn't his SFA after all, he was a damn mole who had been lying to him for almost eight years.

"That's all you've got to say, Dinozzo?" Gibbs growled

Dinozzo looked him over expressionlessly. "Anything else you think I should say, Gunny?"

Gibbs gritted his teeth in fury. How dare Dinozzo try and pull rank on him. "I'd better see you here at eight hundred hours tomorrow morning. You owe the team an explanation!"

Dinozzo raised an eyebrow. "Is that right."

"You betcha ass that's right." Gibbs shouted at him. "You don't think you owe us an explanation? How do you think Abby's going to feel if you just disappear?"

Tony was silent for a moment before nodding. "I'll be here at seven hundred and thirty hours. I have a debriefing at nine hundred."

Gibbs glared at him before agreeing stiffly, then he turned and stalked away. He needed space, if he didn't get a hold of himself he was liable to punch something, most likely Dinozzo.


	16. All Things Come To An End: Chapter Four

Ziva David exited the elevator and paused in surprise when she saw a man wearing a marine dress uniform standing near Tony's desk. She couldn't see the man's face, he was standing with his back to her, but she had no doubt that the man was military – his posture gave that away. She also couldn't see his rank insignia, but if he wasn't an officer then she was meshugah (crazy).

She made her way to her desk and place her backpack on it, before clearing her throat. "Are you looking for Agent Gibbs?"

The man turned around and Ziva's mouth dropped open in shock. It was Tony.

Which made absolutely no sense. Sure the man looked like Tony, but his posture and facial expressions were off. So were his mannerisms, well the few she had seen so far anyway. Maybe Tony had a cousin?

"Ziva." The man greeted her flatly in Tony's voice, but not. Because Tony's voice was annoying, this man's voice was authoritative.

Was Tony playing a prank? He did play them a lot. The problem was that there was no way that Tony was a good enough actor to pull this off.

"Tony?" She asked eventually.

"Yes." Tony looked faintly amused.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Ziva waved a hand towards his uniform. "Does Gibbs know? Is it for a case?"

"We have a meeting in five minutes." Tony told her. "I will explain everything then."

Ziva narrowed her eyes at him. Why wouldn't Tony tell her? "What are you playing with?"

"Playing at." Tony corrected her.

Ziva grimaced and sat behind her desk. English was a yutzi (stupid) language and Tony was a kolboynick (know-it-all).

She sat silently at her desk and observed Tony wondering how she could have ever mistaken him as a marine officer. The idea of Tony being a marine was laughable – he was a shmendrik (someone of little worth with an overinflated ego).

Sure Tony was standing straighter than usual, and looked strangely comfortable in the dress uniform, but he was still just Tony – the same schlemiel (person who is particularly useless) as he always was.

Which still left the question as to why he was wearing a marine dress uniform. Surely if had been for a case he would have told her, but she couldn't think why else he would be wearing it. She swallowed down a smug smirk at the thought of what Gibbs would do when he saw Tony defiling a marine uniform.

A half asleep McGee arrived a few minutes later and looked just as confused at Tony's choice of attire as Ziva was feeling, but unlike Ziva he didn't have any problems recognising the older man. McGee probably hadn't noticed Tony's different posture, McGee wasn't the most forzikhtik shagetz (observant gentile).

Gibbs stalked in the bullpen at exactly seven thirty, with Abby, Ducky and Palmer trailing behind him, and while he certainly didn't look surprised to see Tony in the uniform, he did look furious.

Ziva wondered, not for the first time, whether Gibbs had ever heard the saying, 'Der ka'as un der tsoren farkirtsen di yoren' (bad temper and anger shorten the years).

4-4-4

Tim's morning had not gone well. He hadn't seen Gibbs text, ordering him to be at the office by seven, until he had woken up, which had given him less than an hour to get dressed and get to the Navy Yard.

He'd made it on time, with three minutes to spare even, but he hadn't had time to shower or grab a coffee – both of which were extremely important parts of his waking up ritual. He felt half asleep and had actually dozed off at one point on his way to work when the traffic was stationary. Waking up to the sound of beeping horns had not improved his mood.

Then he'd arrived at work to see Tony wearing a marine officer's uniform and Ziva studying him like she studied her crosswords. Tim had ignored them, choosing instead to sit down and lay his head on his arms. Maybe Gibbs would be late and he could get some more sleep.

He must have dozed off, because the next thing he heard was Gibbs' voice – it was just as horrible a wakeup as the car horns had been. Tim stood up grudgingly and rubbed his eyes as he followed the team through NCIS and into one of the meeting rooms. He needed to wake up, the last thing he needed was to fall asleep in front of Gibbs – maybe he should have risked being late and stopped for coffee on his way.

Gibbs shut the door behind them with a bang and then sat at the head of the table. Gibbs seemed to be vibrating with fury and Tim couldn't remember a time when he had seen their lead agent so angry – not even when Ari had killed Kate.

They all found seats around the table. Ducky and Ziva sat on either side of Gibbs, with Palmer and Tim beside them and then Abby next to Tim. Tony weirdly chose to sit at the opposite end of the table as Gibbs, which left two seats between him and Palmer and one seat between him and Abby.

Tim looked at Gibbs questioningly. What was going on?

The door opened again and Director Vance entered the room causing Gibbs to glare at him.

"This is a private meeting." Gibbs snapped.

"Then you shouldn't have held it in my building." Vance told him calmly, before walking around the table and sitting beside Tony.

Tim studied the director in confusion. Why had Vance chosen that seat in particular? He could have sat between Tony and Abby, that seat had been closer to the door, but instead the director had chosen to sit on the side that left a spare seat between him and Palmer. Tim didn't doubt that the director's actions had been deliberate, but why?

"What's going on, Gibbs?" Abby leant around Tim to ask. "Why are we here so early?"

Gibbs glared at Tony. "Anything to say, Dinozzo?"

Tim flinched at the hostility in Gibbs tone and he eyed him warily, half expected their team leader to shoot Dinozzo.

"Perhaps I should start." Vance said, pulling out a toothpick and slipping it into his mouth.

Gibbs mouth twisted angrily, but he didn't say anything so Tim turned his attention to the director.

"Nine years ago there were some rumours circulating about corruption at NCIS." Vance told them. "The SecNav at the time was concerned by the rumours and so decided to place his own mole in the agency to investigate corruption."

Tim leaned forward, suddenly feeling alert. There was another mole at NCIS? It had been less than a week since they had managed find the last one.

"This mole was the reason that Director Sheppard was fired and brought up on charges." Vance continued. "Last night, Secretary Davenport was arrested for arranging the murder of Aabis Sleiman. The arrest was based primarily on the evidence that has been collected by the mole as well as the evidence that you all gathered over the last few days."

Tim turned to look at Gibbs in disbelief. SecNav had been involved in the murder they had been investigating? Was Vance serious? The majority of the team looked just as flabbergasted as he felt. Tim's lips twitched at that, flabbergasted? He'd obviously spent too much time writing recently.

Gibbs growled.

"But that's not why you are all here." Vance continued. "Due to SecNav's arrest, the mole has been released from his assignment."

Tim looked between Gibbs and Vance trying to figure out what was going on. Why was Gibbs so mad? Sure the man hated being lied to, but obviously the mole had done good work and surely Gibbs didn't expect to be told about every single thing that happened at NCIS. He normally only cared about the details that involved his team. But what did this have to do with the team? Unless the mole had been placed in Gibbs team without his knowledge.

Tim knew he wasn't the mole, and Ziva couldn't be either – she had only been at NCIS for three years. Palmer obviously wasn't the mole and Abby couldn't keep a secret to save her life, so it wasn't her. Which left Ducky and Tony. Tim stared at Ducky in shock – he was the mole?

It wasn't too hard to believe, there had always been something mysterious about Ducky, but Tim had never suspected a thing. Ducky must be an amazing actor. No wonder Gibbs was mad, he had Ducky were friends after all.

"Spit it out, Vance." Gibbs snarled from his end of the table.

Tim looked over at Vance and was surprised to see that the director was looking at Tony.

Tony sighed. "I'm the mole."

Tim shook his head to try and unblock his ears. Obviously his hearing was going, there was no way Tony could be the mole. The man was an imbecile!

Unless, they were trying to protect Ducky's cover. Maybe the assignment wasn't as finished as Vance claimed it was and this was just another part of it. Tim nodded to himself – that made sense. Tony would jump at the chance to be in the spotlight.

"What?" Abby's squeaked.

Vance cleared his throat. "Let me introduce you to Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo of the United States Marine Corps."

Tim nodded to himself again, well, that explained the uniform. Obviously they had been worried that Tony wouldn't managed to pull of the act without props – a completely understandable concern since Tony wasn't even managing to pull it off in the uniform.

Ziva laughed suddenly, though it sounded forced. "This is a joke, yes?"

"No." Gibbs growled, his eyes boring into Tony. "It's true. Tony has been lying to all of us."

Tim looked at Gibbs and frowned slightly. Gibbs' anger looked a little too realistic. But why would Gibbs be angry if Tony was just playing a role? Wouldn't he be angry at Ducky instead? Or angry at Vance?

4-4-4

Abby looked between Gibbs and Tony feeling a bit as though her world was crumbling around her. What was going on? Tony couldn't be the mole, couldn't he? He was her Tony, she'd known him for more than eight years, he was, was, just Tony!

"I'm afraid that I don't understand." Ducky said and Abby nodded firmly in agreement, she didn't understand either.

"What's there to understand, Duck?" Gibbs snapped. " _Tony_ over there has been lying to us since he got here."

"But, but, he's Tony!" Abby protested, she turned to Tony pleadingly. "You're our Tony!"

Tony looked uncomfortable. "I'm afraid not, Abby."

Abby shook her head to try and get rid of the tears in her eyes. "Yes, you are! Just because you've been the mole doesn't mean you're not our Tony!"

"This cannot be real." Ziva exploded suddenly. "Tony is schlump! He cannot be a marine."

Abby narrowed her eyes at Ziva. She had no idea what 'schumup' meant, but it didn't sound like a compliment. She noticed that Director Vance was also looking less than impressed with Ziva's outburst.

Abby looked over at Tim to see how he was taking it. She knew that Tim didn't think much of Tony, it was something they had argued about when they were dating. Tim was staring at Tony like he had never seen him before. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Abby would have taken a picture of McGee's dumbfounded expression to tease him about later.

"I am sorry for having lied to you all." Tony said eventually and Abby's eyes filled with tears when she realised that he sounded completely different – nothing like her Tony. "It was a necessary part of my assignment here."

"And now that it's over you're just going to leave?" Gibbs accused him.

Tony looked uncomfortable. "The Tony Dinozzo that you all know is just a role that I played and my assignment is over."

"So we're never going to see you again?" Abby asked, wiping angrily at the tears on her cheeks. "You're just going to ignore eight years of friendship."

Tony's expression softened. "I'm sorry, Abby. I never meant to hurt you all, but the Tony you know doesn't exist."

"But he could!" Abby argued desperately. "You've been that Tony for eight years, couldn't you just keep being him?"

"I'm married." Tony told her. "And my wife is eight months pregnant. I have a doctorate degree and prefer reading books to watching movies. I joined the marines when I was eighteen and never even considered going into law enforcement until I was given this assignment. I am not the person who you were friends with. I'm sorry."

Abby wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears. This couldn't be happening.

16-16-16

"A PhD?" Tim couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief. Because really? There were times when had Tim doubted that Tony had managed to finish his degree without resorting to cheating, let alone a doctorate. "What website did you get that from?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Stanford."

Tim stared at him. Tony had gone to Stanford? Stanford?! Stanford was one of the top universities in the country. This couldn't be real, it just couldn't be. The data just didn't add up.

It had to all be a prank. Tony was just joking with them and had somehow managed to get Vance and Gibbs to go along with it. It was a cruel prank though. Tim was surprised that Tony hadn't stopped it when Abby started crying – but then Tony never had been very good at knowing where the line was.

"Don't you think that's enough?" Tim asked. "Look at how upset Abby is. You can stop joking around now, Tony."

"This is not a joke, Agent McGee." Director Vance told him with a disapproving frown. "Colonel Dinozzo is telling you the truth."

Tim studied the director carefully, looking for the signs that he was lying. He didn't find any, but then what did he expect? Vance had been an agent for years, he'd probably learnt to hide his tells years ago.

"This cannot be true." Ziva said, sounding confused. "Tony is a cop. He is not a soldier."

"He's not a soldier, Ziva." Gibbs sneered. "He's a spy!"

Vance looked pissed. "He's a United States Marine Officer, Gibbs."

"Wait," Tim frowned, looking between Tony and Gibbs. "Let's say this is all true, does that mean that Tony outranks Gibbs?"

"Agent Gibbs is no longer in active service." Vance answered slowly. "He and Dinozzo are not in the same chain of command."

"But Gibbs is always saying that there is no such thing as a former marine." Tim pointed out.

"At least not when in suits him to be a marine." Tony commented dryly.

Gibbs stood up so fast that his chair fell over. "What did you just say to me?"

Tony looked unimpressed. "You heard me, Gunny."

Tim looked between them again, feeling a little as though he was at a tennis match, and for the first time started doubting his conviction that it was all a lie. Gibbs looked as though he was about to leap across the table and strangle Tony, and Tony, well, Tony looked exactly like McGee's father did when he was dressing down an inferior.

"Gibbs, sit down!" Director Vance snapped.

Gibbs sneered at them, but righted his chair and sat down hard.

Tim stared at Tony who was watching Gibbs with an expression of disdain. Tony would never look at Gibbs like that! Never! Tony was Gibbs' loyal Saint Bernard – he always looked at Gibbs with an expression of awe.

He looked at Gibbs again, then at Vance, before turning his attention back to Tony. It had to be true. Tony was a marine, a lieutenant colonel of all things! What were the other things Tony had said about himself? He preferred reading to movies, he was married, and…

"You're married?" Tim exclaimed in a strangled voice. "But all the phone calls…"

"Were faked." Tony answered him seriously. "Most of them were actually JJ, my wife."

16-16-16

Ziva wasn't sure what she felt. She knew it had to be true, the Tony she knew was not so good of an actor that he would be able to lie to them about this. If he was lying, she would know it. The problem with that, was that it meant that he had been lying the whole time she had known him. All their conversations, all the cases they had worked on together, all the pranks he had played on her and McGee, they had all been lies!

It was embarrassing! She was supposed to be one of Mossad's best and she had been taken in by a kholerye shagetz (good for nothing gentile). How her friends at Mossad would mock her when they found out, she would be a laughing stock. The spy who was too much of a putz (someone easily tricked) to notice when someone she worked alongside every day wasn't who he claimed to be.

The whole situation was a fercockt (FUBAR). Not only had Director Sheppard's departure two years ago made it practically impossible for her to send any useful information back to her father, but now this!

Ziva shook her head in disgust. Tony was a momzer (untrustworthy bastard)! Though maybe with him gone, Gibbs would make her his Senior Field Agent. It would be a small victory, but it took her one step closer to being in a position at NCIS that would be useful to her father.

4-4-4

Leon looked around the room taken in the different expressions. Gibbs still looked furious, and Miss Sciuto's tears certainly weren't helping calm him down. McGee, Ducky and Mr. Palmer all looked as though someone had pulled a rug out from beneath their feet. Leon could sympathise, he imagined that he had looked similar when Secretary Moore had first told him of Dinozzo's identity. Officer David looked as though she was contemplating something and it worried Leon. Maybe Dinozzo was right and he should sent her home, having a David in his agency was practically asking to be spied on.

Dinozzo was looking uncomfortable and Leon didn't blame him. Normally when people did undercover work they disappeared without having to face the music. Leon wasn't sure whether or not he agreed with Gibbs' demand that Dinozzo explain himself to the team, though it had been Dinozzo's choice to comply.

"So you're just going to leave?" Miss Sciuto asked suddenly, sounding lost.

"Yes." Dinozzo nodded. "My assignment is over."

"And that's all we were to you?" She looked as though she was going to cry again. "An assignment?"

Dinozzo looked uncomfortable again. "I'm sorry."

Miss Sciuto burst into tears and turned to bury her face in McGee's shoulder. McGee put an arm around her and glared at Dinozzo.

"Well, I must admit that I will be sorry to see you go." Ducky said slowly, "I have very much enjoyed working with you."

Dinozzo inclined his head towards the doctor. "Thank you, Ducky. I wish you all the best." He looked at his watch and then stood up. "I need to go. I am due for another meeting at nine."

None of Gibbs' team would look Dinozzo in the eye, except for Gibbs who was still glaring at him, and none of them said anything.

Leon stood and followed Dinozzo out of the room and towards the elevator. It wasn't until they were at the elevator that Dinozzo stopped and turned to face him.

"Thank you for your assistance, Director."

Leon accepted his thanks with a nod. "Thank you for the years of service you have given NCIS, Colonel. I have been reading your reports and want to assure you that I will take your recommendations under advisement."

Dinozzo looked pleased. "Thank you, Director."

"Tony!" Miss Sciuto's voice called loudly and Leon turned around to look.

Miss Sciuto ran towards them, in ridiculously high platform shoes, and threw herself at Dinozzo who looked very uncomfortable.

"I couldn't let you just leave without giving you one last hug." Miss Sciuto mumbled into Dinozzo's uniform. "But don't think this means that I've forgiven you, because I haven't!" She pulled away from him and Leon winced when he saw streaks of black on her cheeks from where her makeup had run.

"Goodbye, Abby." Dinozzo told her gently. "Have a nice life." He nodded briskly to Leon and then entered the elevator and pushed a button for the doors to close.

Leon sighed and turned to Miss Sciuto who was staring at the closed elevator doors with a devastated expression. He envied Dinozzo's ability to leave – Leon was not looking forward to having to clean up this mess. Though the thought of assigning Gibbs a position as agent afloat was particularly gratifying. It would give him the opportunity to place Agent McGee with a different Team Leader too, it would be a shame for all the young agent's potential to go to waste because of Gibbs.


	17. All Things Come To An End: Chapter Five

Tony let a long relieved breath as he strode out of the NCIS building for, hopefully, the last time. His meeting with the team had gone better than he'd expected. Abby's tears had been the hardest thing to handle, well, that and resisting the urge to have it out with Gibbs, but all in all it had gone well and it was over and done with.

It was hard to believe that he would never again have to be Very Special Agent Tony Dinozzo. Eight and a half years was a long time to spend undercover, over four times the length of any of his previous undercover assignments, and the thought that it was finally over was mind blowing.

He would never again have to wake up, put on an expensive suit, and drive in to NCIS. Never again would he have to take orders from Gibbs, or put up with being slapped over the head by him. It was over and he didn't think he could be more excited.

Tony was looking forward to telling JJ. He had considered ringing her the night before, she would definitely want to know that it was over, but hadn't wanted to wake her. She was in New Mexico investigating an unsub who was killing blond women soon after they had given birth and JJ, being almost eight months pregnant and blond, was taking the case particularly hard. The last thing she needed was to be woken up in the middle of the night.

It hadn't been until he'd woken up that morning that he'd remembered that New Mexico was two hours behind Washington DC – he could have rung her after all. But no matter, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to surprise her with the news.

Tony pulled out his phone and dialled JJ's number as he began walking towards General Pike's office. It would be at least a fifteen minute walk, which gave him plenty of time to see how she was going.

"Hi." JJ sounded sleepy.

"Good morning." Tony greeted her cheerily. "I didn't wake you up did I? I figured you'd be getting up about now."

"I should be." JJ agreed tiredly. "My alarm went off a few minutes ago, I'm still trying to convince myself to listen to it."

Tony laughed. "You finished the case then?"

"Yeah." JJ yawned. "By the time we finished processing everything last night it was too late to bother flying. We're heading back this morning."

Tony grinned. "I'm glad. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." JJ groaned, like she always did when she was trying to get out of bed these days. "How are things going for you?"

"Good." Tony answered. "We arrested Davenport last night."

"What?" JJ exclaimed. "Wow, Tony! That's amazing!"

"I know." Tony's smile was so wide it was making his cheeks hurt. "They're trying to keep it out of the press for as long as possible, but I doubt they'll manage for much longer."

"So now what?" JJ asked excitedly. "Are you done?"

Tony considered his answer. Did he tell her now? Or surprise her in a few hours? "I'm on my way to meet with General Pike." He told her eventually. "I'll let you know what he says when you get back."

"I am so excited right now." JJ told him. "If I wasn't so pregnant I'd probably start dancing with excitement or something. This is just so, so…"

"I know." Tony agreed.

"What did Davenport have to say?" JJ asked curiously and Tony could hear the sound of the shower in the background.

"He was protecting our nation apparently." Tony answered. "Which, don't get me wrong, in some ways he was, but that doesn't make it right."

"So pretty much what you expected then." JJ commented.

"Yeah." Tony sighed. "It's going to create a scandal. I'm just hoping they keep my name out of it."

"Do you think they will?" JJ asked.

"I don't know." Tony admitted. "What do you think? You're the media liaison."

"It depends on how they spin it." JJ answered. "If they want to show how far the Navy will go to clean up their messes, then you're a perfect example.

"I'm also a perfect example of why you shouldn't trust anyone because a military operative could be working right next you and you wouldn't know it." Tony pointed out dryly.

JJ laughed. "True. I'm going to have to say goodbye now. I'm due to meet the team for breakfast in twenty minutes and I still haven't had a shower."

"You're meeting at seven?" Tony asked. "I thought Hotch normally let you all lie in when you stayed an extra night."

"It's a four and a half hour flight home and Hotch is still having issues with Strauss." JJ explained. "Our plane leaves at eight thirty, so we'll be back at the office by three thirty. That way no one will be able to accuse Hotch of mismanaging resources."

Tony snorted. "Yeah, because looking after your team after a long case is definitely cause for accusing someone of that."

JJ laughed. "I know. I'll see you tonight. Let me know how your meeting with Pike goes."

"I will." Tony promised. "I love you!"

"Love you too."

Tony slipped his phone back in his pocket and enjoyed the feeling of walking through the Navy Yard in uniform. Whenever he had walked through while undercover he'd had to push down his jealously of all the sailors who actually got to wear their uniform.

When he reached the building that held Pike's office a seaman, who barely looked old enough to be in the navy, saluted Tony briskly and held the door open for him.

Tony thought his heart would burst in pleasure at the familiar sign of respect. How he had missed being part of this culture.

He returned the salute and smiled. "Thank you, Seaman."

Tony continued into the building, before stopping when he realised that he had no idea where exactly General Pike's office was. He looked around for a building map and eventually found one near the elevator.

It took Tony a few minutes to find Pike's office, which happened to be on the third floor, but he still managed to arrive a few minutes early. There wasn't a waiting area though, so Tony stood patiently in the hallway outside Pike's office.

At nine o'clock exactly, Tony knocked on the door and then entered when Pike shouted for him to.

Tony stopped between the two seats that were in front of Pike's desk, before standing to attention and saluting the General. "Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Dinozzo reporting as ordered, sir."

Pike returned his salute crisply. "At ease, Colonel. Have a seat."

"Thank you, sir." Tony sat on the seat to his left and waited patiently.

"My felicitations for your success, Colonel." Pike said after a few seconds. "Secretary Moore is very happy with the favourable outcome of your assignment, as is the President."

Tony's eyes widened slightly in surprise. He had known that the President had been briefed on his assignment to take down Davenport, but it was an incredible feeling to know that the President was pleased.

"How are you feeling, now that it's over?" Pike asked.

"Good thank you, sir." Tony replied. "Relieved."

Pike chuckled. "I'll bet. What does your wife think of all this?"

"I haven't told her yet, sir." Tony admitted. "She is in New Mexico and I am waiting until she gets back to tell her in person."

"Bad idea, colonel." Pike grinned wryly. "Women like to be told these things as soon as we learn them. I was stationed on the USS Forrestal the year after my wife, Felicity, and I were married. The first time I was given leave I decided to surprise her. It did not go down well."

Tony grimaced. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea.

"Anyway," Colonel Pike leaned forward. "There are a few things that Secretary Moore has asked me to discuss with you. Firstly, you will be receiving a promotion to full bird colonel."

Tony's eyes widened in surprise, he hadn't even been two years since his last promotion.

"You were due to receive your silver leaf six years ago." Pike told him. "I have no idea what Colonel Lucten was thinking, holding off on it for an extra four years, but your career shouldn't suffer from another man's idiocy."

"Thank you, sir." Tony said after a few seconds. In a way he felt as though he had jumped straight from Major to Colonel.

"You deserve it, colonel." Pike told him earnestly. "You are an asset to the armed forces and, while I may not normally be in your chain of command, I know I speak for the corps when I say that we want to keep you."

Tony couldn't help but feel guilty. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Pike leant back in his chair. "Granted, Colonel."

"My staying with corps will depend on my next assignment, sir." Tony admitted. "I joined the corps when I was eighteen and have never regretted it, but my priority is JJ and our child now. I love the corps, but I will resign before going undercover like this again."

Pike nodded understandingly. "Rest assured, colonel, your preferences will be taken into account. For now though, you have been granted three months of leave starting from Tuesday. Finish up your reports by then and then spend some time with your wife."

"Thank you, sir." Tony told him sincerely.

Pike nodded. "Colonel Lucten has been informed of the outcome of your assignment. You will be meeting with him on Monday, at nine hundred hours. The President has requested a meeting with you, which has been scheduled for eleven hundred hours on Monday.

Tony stared at him. "The President, sir?"

Pike looked amused. "Yes, Colonel. Secretary Moore and I will both be accompanying you."

Tony shook his head in wonder. The President wanted to meet him?

Pike picked a piece of paper up off his desk and held it away from his face to read it. "Oh, yes, the media will be all over Davenport's arrest, and we would rather your name wasn't mentioned. If, however, your name does get leaked, don't talk to the press. Leave it to our media relations people."

"Yes, sir." Tony nodded.

"Good work on this, Colonel." Pike told his seriously. "You will be receiving several commendations for your dedication to your assignment. Now go tell your wife the good news. Dismissed."

Tony stood to attention and saluted the General. "Thank you, sir." Then he turned and marched to the door, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to act like a marine.

He made his way back to the elevator and then down to the ground floor and out into the sunlight. It was only nine twenty which meant that JJ would be having breakfast with her team. Should he ring her and tell her the good news? Or should he surprise her when he got back? Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket, but then put it back. Six hours of not knowing wouldn't hurt her, besides, JJ loved surprises.

5-5-5

JJ knew she was practically vibrating with excitement as she walked into the dining room to meet the team for breakfast. She was the last one to arrive and filled her plate up at the buffet before sitting down between Emily and Morgan.

"Good morning."

The team returned her greeting in different degrees of alertness, Spencer looked as though he was about to fall asleep in his cereal.

"You're in a good mood." Emily commented, as she sipped at her coffee.

"I was just talking to Tony." JJ admitted, before eating her first spoonful of cereal.

"Ah," Emily grinned. "I can see why you're in a good mood then."

"He thinks his assignment might be almost over." JJ told her quietly

"Really?" Emily asked excitedly. "Does this mean that we might actually get to meet him?"

"Meet who?" Derek asked.

"The Great and Awesome Tony." Emily told him. "JJ says his assignment is almost over."

"Might be almost over." JJ corrected cautiously.

"Really?" Spencer perked up a little.

"And just in time too." Derek commented. "I don't think Twinkle Toes is going to wait much longer."

JJ rolled her eyes. "I'm only eight months pregnant."

"Should you still be flying?" Spencer asked. "Studies have shown than pregnant women shouldn't fly when they're thirty six weeks into pregnancy because they risk early labour. Some airlines even refuse to allow women who are over twenty eight weeks to fly with them."

"I'm at thirty five weeks." JJ told him. "And I promised Hotch that this would be my last case until after my maternity leave is over."

Emily put an arm around her and hugged her lightly. "We'll miss you."

"I'll miss you guys too." JJ promised.

"Is he excited?" Emily asked her.

"About his assignment maybe being over soon?" JJ asked.

"Actually I meant about the baby being due soon." Emily laughed. "But either works."

"Yes, to both." JJ paused so she could eat some more cereal. "He's been undercover for eight and a half years which is a really long time."

"Hold up." Derek interrupted her. "He works undercover?"

JJ winced, sometimes it was hard to remember what she had told her team. "Yes."

"Eight and a half years?" Emily asked in horror. "That's awful."

"Yeah," JJ agreed. "So, yes, he is very excited that it might be over soon."

"Is that even legal?" Derek asked. "To send someone undercover for that long?"

"Joe Pistone worked undercover inside the Bonanno family in New York for six years from 1976 to 1981." Spencer commented. "But studies have shown that long term undercover work often result in the person experiencing paranoia, isolation, nervous tension, depression, fear and anger."

Derek let out a low whistle. "Ouch."

"There have been some interesting papers published recently discussing the factors needed for successful undercover work." Spencer continued.

JJ's stomach clenched nervously, those were Tony's papers. "Anyway, Emily, yes, Tony is also very excited about Twinkle Toes. He's been in the marines since he was eighteen and I don't think he really considered settling down, but then he was assigned undercover in his mid-thirties. He says he's just glad that no one will mistake him for Twinkle Toe's grandfather."

"So he's older than you?" Emily asked.

JJ raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Haven't I told you this?"

"No," Emily shook her head. "I'd definitely remember if you had."

"He's ten years older than me." JJ admitted.

"So he's older than Hotch?" Derek asked in surprise.

JJ looked towards their team leader in surprise. "Yeah, I'd never considered that."

Hotch looked slightly offended. "I'm not that old. I'm only six years older than you, Derek."

"And at least Hotch still has hair." Emily smirked.

Derek put a hand on his head as though to protect it. "I could have hair, if I wanted to."

"Sure you could." Emily humoured him.

JJ couldn't help but laugh.


	18. All Things Come To An End: Chapter Six

Derek Morgan leaned against the back wall of the elevator with a sigh as Emily pressed the button for their floor. It had been a big week, particularly with Hotch on his case the whole time. Nothing he did seemed to be right, which was bull. He'd been doing his job just the same as usual.

He was glad that JJ had told him about Hotch's tense meeting with Chief Strauss before they left, it helped him see where Hotch was coming from. But Hotch didn't get to be an ass just because he was having a bad day, or week, or, well, year.

And it wasn't as though Hotch had been an ass to everyone, just to Derek. Which made some kind of sense, Derek was the team member who was the most able to take Hotch's bad temper – particularly now that JJ looked as though she was about to pop.

Derek looked over to where JJ was leaning against the wall to his left looking tired. Her tiredness was completely understandable, she was basically constantly working with at least seven pounds of resistance gear. He would be tired if he had lug a seven pound bag with him every moment of every day too.

The elevator swung open with a ding and Derek followed the team out into the foyer and then through the glass doors and into their bullpen.

Rossi stopped suddenly in front of him and Derek barely managed to stop himself from running into him. What was going on?"

"Tony?" JJ asked, sounding as though she was about to cry.

Derek stepped to the side to see what all the fuss was about and then stared at the sight of a marine officer standing in the middle of their bullpen. That was Tony?

"Surprise!" The marine said with a grin and stepped forward to catch JJ when she threw herself at him, pregnant stomach and all.

Derek frowned, there was something familiar about him.

"Wait," Emily said suddenly, her tone incredulous. "Tony? Your 'Tony' is Agent Tony Dinozzo?"

Derek narrowed his eyes at the man and his mouth dropped open in shock when he realised that she was right. It was the idiot agent from NCIS. The annoying one that never shut up and had asked them about whether the FBI had a division for chasing down aliens like in the X-Files.

"Surprise?" JJ's voice was muffled by Tony's shoulder. "Really?"

Tony looked sheepish. "General Pike told me it was probably a bad idea, but you like surprises."

JJ let out a choked laugh.

Derek stared at them in shock. What was going on? How was JJ's husband the man that the team had dubbed 'Agent Annoying'? The guy was a menace and as far away from a marine as a federal agent could possibly be. Looking around, Derek was relieved to see that the team looked just as confused as he felt.

Eventually, JJ stepped out of Tony's embrace and turned to them. "Guys? I'd like to introduce you to Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Dinozzo, my husband and Twinkle Toes' daddy."

Nobody said anything for a few seconds and then Tony stepped forward. "It's nice to meet you all again."

Derek searched desperately for something to say, preferably something polite, but anything to break the awkward silence.

"Likewise." Rossi said eventually. "We've heard a lot about you."

Derek looked at Rossi incredulously, because really? That was what Rossi went with? Sure they'd heard a lot about him, but they'd also worked with the guy twice and nothing was adding up.

JJ slipped her hand into Tony's. "Hotch, I know you wanted to get back early so we could get some work done, but would you mind if we sat down so Tony and I can explain everything."

"I think that would be a good idea." Hotch said with a nod. "I doubt anyone's going to get any work done now anyway."

Tony looked sheepish again. "Sorry about that, Agent Hotcher."

"I'll ring Penelope." Emily declared. "She should be here for this."

"Yes." JJ agreed. "Tell her to meet us in the briefing room."

"I brought a cake." Tony said after a minute. "I thought the occasion called for one." He let go of JJ's hand and turned around and picked a box up off Reid's desk.

"You brought a cake?" JJ sounded amused. "You didn't have time to ring me, but you had time to order a cake?"

"So you don't want the cake then?" Tony grinned at her. "It's orange chocolate cake."

JJ's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Of course." Tony balanced the cake on one hand and wrapped an arm around JJ's waist. "It did occur to me when I was ordering it that your cravings may have changed in the last few days, but I'm glad to see that they haven't."

Derek stared at them in disbelief. It was clearly not a joke, their body language definitely spoke of comfortable and intimate relationship, but then could he really trust their body language? By his calculations they'd already been dating when the team had first met Tony and JJ had managed to convince them that she didn't like the guy. A perfectly reasonable response in Derek's opinion, the idea that JJ might have fallen in love with the playboy agent was unbelievable.

He followed the team up to the briefing room and everyone settled around it to wait for Garcia. Tony took the cake out of the box and put it in the middle of the table. Derek leant forward so he could read the words on it.

' _Surprise! It's Over!'_

JJ read the cake and then looked up with Tony, her eyes filling with tears. "Really?"

"Yeah." Tony smiled. "Really."

"Oh my goodness." JJ let out a sigh and wiped at the tears in her eyes. "I've dreamed of this moment for so long. I presumed it must be, with you here, but oh wow, this is amazing!"

"I'm here!" Garcia appeared at the door sounding out of breath. "I hope you appreciate this, because I ran all the way here." She paused and her eyes focussed in on Tony. "Is this him? Is this JJ's Tony?"

JJ beamed at her. "Penelope, I'd like to introduce you to my husband, Tony. Tony, this is Penelope."

"Wow!" Garcia mouthed as she slipped into the seat beside Derek. "You were right, JJ, he's totally hot."

Derek rolled his eyes fondly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Penelope." Tony smiled at her. "I've heard a lot about you."

Emily place some plates on the table and handed Tony the knife.

Tony stood up and carefully cut the cake into pieces, then JJ put the pieces on plates and passed them around.

"Enjoy." Tony told them.

Derek took a bite of the cake and his eyebrows raised in surprise. It was good!

"So," JJ suddenly looked nervous. "Explanations."

"Yes, please." Emily said quickly and Derek nodded in agreement.

"I joined the marines at eighteen." Tony told them. "And have been a marine ever since,"

"But you were an NCIS agent." Reid interrupted.

"What?" Penelope asked and Derek remembered that she'd never gotten the chance to meet the NCIS team.

"Remember those two cases we worked with NCIS?" Emily asked. "Tony was one of the agents in that team."

"Really?" Garcia's eyes widened. "Wait, do you mean Agent Annoying? He was Agent Annoying? The jerk who dated JJ in college?"

"Agent Annoying?" Tony looked amused. "JJ, you didn't tell me they called me that."

JJ grinned. "Didn't I?"

Tony shot her a playful glare. "Anyway, nine years ago SecNav was concerned about some rumours about NCIS and I was given orders to find out whether or not they were true."

"So your undercover operation was at NCIS?" Hotch asked in surprise.

Tony looked down at JJ. "You told them I was working undercover?"

JJ looked sheepish. "Just this morning. I was so excited to hear that your mission was maybe coming to a close that I accidently told them a few new details."

"Like that you're ten years older than she is." Emily put in. "Which means that you guys couldn't have dated in college, not unless you went when you were older."

"We never dated in college." JJ admitted. "We met two and half years ago. That was just a story that we came up with explain how we knew each other."

"So you were already dating when we worked with NCIS for the first time?" Rossi asked. "How did we miss that?"

JJ looked towards Tony proudly. "Tony is very good at what he does."

"No seriously, how?" Derek asked.

"Well, first we had to explain how we knew each other." Tony told him. "Pretending not to know someone is much harder than pretending not to like someone. First impressions are very important, so I made sure that I made a strong first impression as someone who JJ would never date. After that it was just a matter of making sure we didn't interact very often and playing into role that you expected from me.

"The fact that you weren't investigating me made it a lot easier. You had no reason to think that there was anything off about me, and I was annoying enough that you didn't want to bother digging particularly hard to get to know me."

"Well it worked." Derek nodded admiringly. "You should write a book."

"He has, he wrote the training manual that the marines use." Reid said suddenly. "You're Doctor Anthony Dinozzo, right?"

"I am." Tony agreed.

"He's read your papers too." JJ told Tony. "I had to interrupt him this morning so he wouldn't give your name away."

Derek looked at JJ in surprise. He remembered the moment she was describing, but there was nothing about it that had suggested that she'd had an ulterior motive for interrupting Reid. Since when had JJ gotten so good at hiding things?

"And now your assignment is finished?" Hotch asked, gesturing to the cake in the middle of the table.

"Yes." Tony hugged JJ closer to him. "We made the final arrest last night and my cover is officially blown."

Derek leant back in his chair. "It's all pretty unbelievable, man."

Tony's grin was self-deprecating. "I know."

"Pretty embarrassing too." Rossi commented. "Some profilers we are."

"Your focus was on profiling the unsub." Tony told them. "Don't feel too bad. I worked with a Secret Service Agent for two years and a Mossad Officer for four years and neither of them suspected a thing."

"Wow." Emily exclaimed. "JJ's right, you are good."

"He's a pretty decent profiler too." JJ told them with a proud smile.

"His paper on the similarities between criminal profiling and the skills needed for undercover work is fascinating." Reid commented.

Tony looked a bit embarrassed. "You guys were actually my inspiration for that paper. During the first case we worked together I was fascinated by the similarities between what I do and what you do."

"Why do you profile people?" Garcia asked in interest.

"To figure out how best to lie to them." Tony admitted. "Agent Morgan, what's your defining memory of me?"

"Call me Derek." Derek told him. "And it would have to be our conversation about whether or not the FBI had a department for investigating crimes committed by aliens."

JJ laughed and elbowed Tony. "You never told me that."

"Right." Tony grinned. "Agent Prentiss? What's your defining memory of me?"

Emily frowned. "You making sexist comments about my ability to shoot a gun."

JJ elbowed Tony again. "Really?"

"Agent Hotcher?" Tony asked.

Hotch frowned. "You making inappropriate jokes about the murders."

"Right." Tony nodded as though he had known what the answer would be. "And Agent Rossi's will be the comment I made about how profiling was basically just made up and compared his books to McGee's crime novels."

Rossi nodded, looking surprised.

"And Agent Reid's memory will be the same as Derek's, only focus more on my belief that aliens and ghosts exist." Tony said. "And after each of those events, you wrote me off as ridiculous and annoying. Someone to avoid rather than get to know. Right?"

"Yeah." Derek nodded. "So you did that on purpose?"

Tony nodded. "Agent Prentiss' one was the biggest risk since my partner was a woman and there was the possibility she would realise that no one who worked with Ziva could doubt a woman's ability to shoot."

Emily looked embarrassed. "I never even considered that."

"That's amazing, man." Derek told him seriously.

"Thanks." Tony looked pleased.

"What will you do now that your assignment is over?" Hotch asked after a few seconds of silence.

"I've been given three days to write my final reports and attend some meetings." Tony answered. "And then I have three months leave."

JJ looked delighted. "Just in time for Twinkle Toes."

"I know." Tony grinned. "After that, I don't know. It depends on my orders."

"So you'll stay with the marines?" Emily asked.

"It depends on my orders." Tony said again. "I've already informed my superiors that I'll resign my commission before going undercover like that again. I have JJ and Twinkle Toes to think about now."

"Well, if you ever need a change of pace, we could always use a man of your abilities in the BAU." Hotch said.

Derek looked at Hotch in surprise. It wasn't like he disagreed, but it was unlike Hotch to be so open.

Tony looked surprised too. "Really? Don't you have rules about workplace relationships?"

"No." Hotch answered shortly.

"Thanks," Tony told him. "I'll keep that in mind."

"We should have a team dinner." Garcia said suddenly. "JJ and Tony can host."

JJ laughed. "Penelope!"

"Good idea, baby girl." Derek nodded. "I'm in."

"Me too." Emily agreed.

"I can host if JJ and Tony would prefer." Rossi offered.

"No, it's fine." Tony said.

"How does tomorrow night sound?" JJ asked.

"Can we bring anything?" Hotch asked.

"Just yourselves." JJ told him. "Tony and I will cook."

"Well, we should get back to work." Hotch said, standing up.

"Sorry for interrupting your day." Tony said as he stood up and then offered JJ a hand to pull her to her feet.

"It is so good to finally meet you." Garcia said excitedly, practically bouncing in her chair.

Derek nodded in agreement, before standing and offering Tony his hand. "Thanks for the cake."

"No problem." Tony shook his hand firmly. "I'll take what's left home for when JJ wakes up in the middle of the night craving some."

JJ elbowed him and rolled her eyes. "I'm not that bad."

"JJ, you're welcome to leave early today. Everyone will understand." Hotch said.

"Even Strauss?" JJ looked doubtful.

"Don't worry about Strauss." Hotch told her. "Go home, celebrate with your husband."

"Try not to go into early labour from the excitement." Emily put in.

"Thanks." JJ told Hotch. "I think I'll do that. It's been a long couple of days."

"We'll see you tomorrow." Garcia said seriously. "And I'll bring my list of questions for Tony."

"Penelope!" JJ exclaimed with a laugh.

Tony looked amused. "Don't be hypocritical, JJ. I still remember the list of questions you had for me."

JJ blushed slightly. "Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow. Does five work?"

"Sure." Derek nodded. "You'll have to text us the address though."

"Yeah," Emily nodded. "Since you've never actually invited us over before."

"Just be glad you've got an invite now." JJ told her with a grin.

They said their goodbyes and then Tony and JJ left, leaving the rest of the team in the briefing room.

"Wow." Emily said once they were out of hearing range. "He was not what I was expecting."

"He is just as gorgeous as JJ described him as being though." Garcia pointed out.

"Very true." Emily nodded.

6-6-6


	19. All Things Come To An End: Chapter Seven

JJ walked Tony down to the foyer and then they both went their separate ways to pick up their cars.

It was disappointing to have to split up so soon after having heard the good news, but JJ used the forty minute drive to try and sort out what she was feeling.

Sheer relief was her strongest emotion. It was over!

It wasn't as though she had doubted that it would be eventually, but they had lived with the secret for so long it had been hard to imagine what life might be like without it.

It had been wonderful to watch Tony interacting with her team. The team had become a second family to her and it had been hard to lie to them for so long. The relief that she had felt being able to tell them everything was second only to her amusement at their confused expressions when they found out that she had married 'Agent Annoying'.

Tony's car was already in the driveway when she pulled into their street and she parked her car behind his before pulling herself out of the vehicle – something that was much more difficult to do when you were eight months pregnant.

JJ let herself into the house and stepped out of her shoes. "Tony?"

"In the lounge." Tony called.

JJ made her way into the lounge and found Tony sitting on the couch, with two hot drinks on the coffee table in front of him.

"Welcome home." Tony told her, patting the couch beside him. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too." JJ slowly lowered herself onto the couch and then shifted around so that her back was leaning against Tony. "Though it sounds as though you've been busy."

Tony shifted slightly and then wrapped an arm around her, his hand ending up on her stomach. "How's Twinkle Toes doing?"

"Kicking like mad." JJ told him. "It's tiring, especially when I'm trying to work. I thought I'd be frustrated when Hotch told me I wasn't allowed to travel with the team anymore, but I'm actually relieved."

Tony's hand splayed out over her stomach and they were silent for a while as Twinkle Toes kicked at his hand.

"I can only imagine what it must feel like to feel Twinkle Toes kicking inside your body." Tony commented eventually.

"It's nice." JJ told him. "I've heard of women whose baby kicked so hard they broke ribs, but Twinkle Toes isn't that bad. Kind of annoying when I'm trying to sleep though."

Tony chuckled. "I'm sure.

"So," JJ said after a few minutes of silence. "You got him."

"Yeah." Tony's smile was audible. "We got him and it's over. Secretary Moore told me last night and then…"

"You knew last night?" JJ interrupted. "And you didn't tell me?"

"It was late," Tony explained. "I didn't want to wake you."

"You know New Mexico is two hours behind Washington, right?" JJ asked.

"I forgot." Tony said shifting slightly. "I only remembered this morning, but by then I'd decided I wanted it to be a surprise."

JJ considered that. "It was a pretty great surprise."

"I know." Tony kissed the top of her head.

"So tell me all about it." JJ told him. "What happened?"

"Well, you remember those recordings I got from Davenport earlier this week?" Tony asked.

JJ nodded.

"There were some incriminating conversation on them." Tony continued. "The conversations led us to a body which, in turn, led us to a marine who is part of Operation Frankenstein. Director Vance, Secretary Moore, and the Associate Attorney General all agreed that we had what we needed and so we arrested him."

"So did you end up telling Director Vance?" JJ asked curiously.

"Yes." Tony answered. "We needed his cooperation to investigate the body. He took it very well actually, much better than I thought he would."

"And Gibbs?"

"He pushed his way into Davenport's arrest." Tony sighed. "Davenport broke my cover on our way back to NCIS and Gibbs didn't take it so well. He insisted that I come into NCIS to explain myself to the team."

JJ winced, she'd seen Gibbs in bad mood and it wasn't pleasant. She could only imagine how angry he would have been on hearing that Tony had been lying to him.

"Will you?" She asked. "You don't have to, right?"

"I went this morning." Tony answered. "I didn't have to, but Gibbs was right. The team deserved to hear it from me."

"How did it go?"

"About as well as can be expected." Tony sighed again. "Gibbs yelled, McGee and Ziva didn't believe me, Abby cried. Vance turned up and defended me though, which was a nice surprise."

"I thought he didn't like you?" JJ commented.

"He didn't like Agent Tony," Tony replied. "Lieutenant Colonel Dinozzo though…"

"Which is understandable, I guess."

"Yeah." Tony agreed. "I didn't like Agent Tony either."

"So you've got three months leave?" JJ asked. "We'll be able to go to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving and Christmas again."

"Yeah." Tony sounded happy. "I have two days to write up my reports and then two meetings booked for Monday morning. One of which is with the president."

JJ twisted around to see his face. "Seriously?"

"I know." Tony agreed. "It's a terrifying thought."

"And an amazing one." JJ pointed out, settling against him again. "The president wants to meet you."

"And apparently they're promoting me to colonel." Tony added.

"Wow." JJ smiled. "They must be really pleased that you managed to take down Davenport."

"I suppose." Tony agreed. "I'm just glad it's over."

"Me too." JJ agreed. "We'll be able to meet for lunch and have the team over for dinner and tell Andrea and Randy's kids that you're a marine."

"We should have just told them that in the first place, like we did your team." Tony commented. "It would be much less confusing for them."

JJ shrugged. "No point worrying about it now."

Tony was silent for a while. "It's strange to think that I'll never have to be Agent Dinozzo again."

"Unless you decide to leave the marines and come work with me." JJ grinned. "You could take up Hotch's offer and we could be Doctor Agent and Agent Dinozzo, FBI."

Tony laughed. "You think that sounds better than Doctor Colonel and Agent Dinozzo?"

"That has a nice ring to it too." JJ admitted. "That's another nice thing to this being over. Our marriage paperwork can be filed and I can officially take your name."

"Even at work?" Tony asked questioningly.

"Yes." JJ nodded. "I've dreamt of getting married and taking my husband's name since I was a girl. It's sort of a dream come true."

"Do you want me to work for the FBI?" Tony asked after a minute.

"I don't mind." JJ answered. "There are pros and cons. It would be nice to see you at work every day, and you'd be a great addition to the team. But when the team goes on cases there'd be no one to look after Twinkle Toes."

"Maybe I could resign my commission and stay at home with Twinkle Toes." Tony suggested. "I could write a book."

"You love the marines." JJ told him. "Let's not make any big decisions yet. Take the next couple of months to wind down, find out what your orders will be, and then decide."

Tony sighed. "I'm just so tired."

"Good thing you've got three months off then." JJ told him. "Finish off your paper work, go meet the president, and then sleep for a week."

"That sounds nice." Tony told her. "You should ring you parents tonight, let them know the good news."

"They're going to be so excited." JJ smiled. "I know that mom was really worried about you still being undercover when Twinkle Toes is born. She thought the stress of it might be too much for us."

"Its good timing." Tony agreed. "I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with Twinkle Toes."

"Did you have any more name ideas this week?" JJ asked.

"Joshua, maybe." Tony suggested. "I think I like it better than Robert even. You?"

"Caroline is still my favourite." JJ commented. "I like Joshua. It's definitely better than Robert."

"Caroline." Tony sounded out. "It's cute."

"I know I've said it before," JJ said. "But I'm relieved that you're not determined to name a son Anthony. We'd probably end up calling him Ant or something."

"I don't want any of our children feeling as though they're a second model." Tony told her. "My dad always called me junior and it made me feel as though he expected me to be a younger him. Which, seeing as how my dad disowned me when I was fifteen and hasn't spoken to me since I became a marine, probably wasn't far from the truth."

"Wait, children?" JJ grinned. "As in multiple?"

Tony shifted. "I'd like a few. You're from a big family, and I always wished I had at least one sibling."

"I've always imagined having three or four." JJ offered. "Though I might change my mind after I've experienced labour."

Tony laughed. "Did you want a hot drink? I think our ones will have gone cold by now."

JJ looked over at the drinks on the table. "We could warm them up. You said you were bringing home the left over cake?"

"It's on the bench." Tony told her. "You can stay here if you like, I'll put the drinks in the microwave and bring you some cake."

"Sounds good." JJ sat up, so that Tony could extricate himself from behind her, before lying down where he had been sitting. "How about we order dinner tonight. I don't really feel like cooking."

"Sure."

JJ stared at the ceiling and listened to the noises Tony was making in the kitchen with a smile. Tony was a great husband and she had no doubt that when Twinkle Toes eventually made an appearance, Tony would be a fantastic daddy. She was so glad that she had worked up the courage to give him her number that day at Roger's Café.

It was hard to believe that they had first met only two and a half years ago. It had been a wonderful two and a half years, but hard at the same time with Tony's assignment at NCIS always there in the background. But now Tony's assignment was really over and he would never have to go undercover like that again. They had the rest of their lives to enjoy one another's company without secrets and NCIS getting in the way – it was a wonderful thought.

7-7-7

I am sorry to announce that this is the last part of 'Tony Dinozzo, Undercover Marine'. There is a tiny chance that I may come back one day and add a few more parts, but if I do it won't be any time soon.

Thank you very much for all your support and encouragement. I am so glad you enjoyed this story.

I know that many of you were hoping that I would continue this story to show Twinkle-Toe's birth, and perhaps Tony working at the FBI. So if anyone else would like to take up the mantle and write some stories attached to this series I would be very happy to put a link to them on this page. I only ask that you keep Tony and JJ together and keep the rating under NC-17. :)


End file.
